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10/26/2022 08:30 AMWhen it comes to helping other people, Carla Picard knew she was meant for a career where she could exercise that strength.
“I can go back to my college Meyers-Briggs personality assessment that told me I would thrive in, not necessarily a philanthropic organization, but certainly in a give-back [type of job]. I have an MBA in marketing, which is nothing like what I feel I was really meant to do,” Carla says.
Carla did hold a previous occupation based on her degree as the director of career services at Post University, working with students on resume building, career interview skills, and job searching. But while the drive to Waterbury was too far from her preferred home, it was the essence of helping other people in a giving way that saw her shift to working at her current position at North Haven Community Services, where she has been a member since 2008.
“I’m extroverted. I like that sense of helping. It gives me a sense of personal satisfaction,” Carla says. Working for community members here, although I knew it was an administrative role, it was going to require me to interface with our residents.”
That desire to connect and working with her fellow North Haven residents found her as the organizer for the semi-annual Drug Takeback event on Saturday, Oct. 29 at North Haven Fire Headquarters. Residents are invited to drop-off unwanted, unused, and potentially dangerous prescription pills simply by pulling down the driveway of the headquarters and to the back of the building, where staff will collect the discarded drugs.
Following the first official hosting of the event by the Town in 2011, Carla found she had a great experience meeting and interacting with residents as a way of familiarizing herself with her community better, and she was excited to continue being a part of it. It also gave her the chance to flex that responsibility of human connection being a central aspect of her role in the Community Services Department.
“While it was a good cause to be able to worry about getting unwanted medications off the street, it was a way to do build some better rapport with residents in town whom I’d like to provide services for, and do a good thing,” says Carla.
Carla has seen first-hand how meaningful the ridding of prescription drugs has been for people in a symbolic way, as pills dropped off at the event don’t stop at expired over-the-counter medications such as Advil, but include narcotics have the potential for abuse, and to emptying the medicine cabinets filled with drugs used for the chemotherapy treatment of a passed love one. Seeing the growing collection over the years of unwanted prescription pills for future disposal demonstrates not just the practical goal of the event being realized, but the personal chord the practice strikes for those dropping by.
The event is emblematic for Carla for providing her the opportunity to build those harmonious, close relationship with the people of North Haven, as she does in the other numerous and various Community Services-sponsored programs that her role in the department encompasses, particularly during the colder months of the year. One of those programs involves providing heating and energy assistance, which runs from the beginning of the fall season until May.
“Working with families in that role has been very heartfelt for me because I work with a lot of families who come in my office and they’re very emotional. [They ask], ‘I didn’t have to do this, why do I have to do this now.’ They may have fallen on hard times. I’ve made them feel like it’s OK to be here. I try to make them feel comfortable doing the appointment.”
Other programs Carla takes part in with her department include food distributions through the Community Services Food Bank every Thanksgiving and Christmas and a children’s toy drive which she in particular oversees.
Although it’s part of her job to see through the successful delivery of oil to homes energy-deprived homes and the facilitation of a solution to solve a family’s financial hardship, it still ultimately comes back to Carla’s genuine conviction in helping others feel safe and comfortable. So much so, she does not plan on abandoning her post and would like to perform her role through her retirement.
“I love my job. I love being here, working with the residents,” says Carla. “Over the course of the time that I’ve been here, there’s a handful that have been here as long as I’ve been here coming for our services. I’ve heard often you’ve really made me feel comfortable being here, you’ve made me not feel ashamed for being here, and I appreciate you being emphathic to me. I leave every day feeling very satisfied with what I do here.”
To nominate a person of the week, contact Aaron Rubin at a.rubin@shorepublishing.com