News

September 2008

A Day of Caring with United Way

Four CSI program facilities were raked, weeded, trimmed, painted and generally spruced up, thanks to the efforts of volunteers recruited by Day of Caring, sponsored by the United Way of the Capital Area.

Thanks to The Hartford Courant and HRH hilb rogal & hobbs, rooms at Safe Home received a fresh coat of paint.

On September 5, volunteers from The Hartford Courant, HRH hilb, rogal & hobbs, Travelers, United Healthcare, The Hartford, Mass Mutual, and LCG Lewisco pitched in at the Drapelick Center, Hartford House, Watkinson House and Safe Home.

The work was coordinated by CSI Facilities Manager Mike Warburton and his staff including Ron Gurge, Daren Lamb, Rich Bouchard and Steve Solazzo. IT got into the act with manager Alan Butkus and technician Oktavian Florysiak supervising setting up a computer lab, completing a firewall configuration, and data entry. A delicious and plentiful breakfast and lunch was provided by Food Service Director John Russell and Jeffrey Umlah (Safe Home).

A Day of Care - Watkinson House

It was the perfect day to be outside, sunny and warm with a slight breeze. On this beautiful September day at the Watkinson House, we were joined by six wonderful women from United Healthcare on our day of caring. They joined us for a brief breakfast where we introduced ourselves and told them a bit about CSI. They seemed genuinely interested in our work release program and asked many questions.

United Healthcare volunteers with Elaine Cohen, program director at Watkinson House.

From there we went outside to get started. We initially split into two groups, front yard and back yard. While some of us worked on the horse shoe pit, others worked on the flower beds and bushes. A total of five clients offered to join us and were motivated by the hard working women outside. The clients who worked outside with us were typically shy and quiet, but after being outside for a short while, they began to open up and ask our visitors questions, and even talk about themselves. We paused for some lunch provided by food service. The volunteers were eager to come inside and tell us how our clients were doing. The women were very impressed with their manners and willingness to help and noted that they were an absolute pleasure to work with. Clients asked questions about how to plant flowers and the proper ways to take care of them through the seasons.

After lunch, it was back to work digging, turning and clipping. By the end of our afternoon, we created flower beds along the sidewalk, weeded all of our gardens, edged along the driveway, raked leaves, mowed the lawn, cleaned up the parking lot, re-did the horse shoe pit, painted the back stairs and railings, but most importantly; built a great community relationship.

Although I had grass in my hair, dirt stains on my clothes and a hint of sunburn I hold this as one of the most rewarding experiences at the Watkinson House. I enjoyed the opportunity to improve our grounds, take pictures, and build amazing relationships with outside sources and the chance to motivate, teach and work along side our clients. Thank you to the women who joined us and to our clients, for working hard and having a great afternoon.