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I was born and raised in Lisbon, Portugal. I was 15 when I came to Connecticut and spoke only Portuguese. My English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher taught me English. I learned Spanish from the other ESL students in the class. I knew I wanted to help people and use my language abilities to bridge services and resources to people who couldn’t access them because speaking English was a barrier. My parents, my younger sister and I all struggled, and I wanted to help people like us. For a while I was an interpreter but working for 211 was the perfect job – connecting people to much needed services was the best of both worlds and really a win-win for me.
But things are very different today than they were back then. Twenty-seven years ago, we didn’t have computers; we used regular telephones with headrests, and everything was paper. We had a big binder with category dividers like food pantries, substance abuse. If someone called looking for a food pantry in Hartford, we had to flip through the book until we found the resources. The Infoline’s phone number at that time was 1-800-203-1234. A few years later things started to evolve. In addition to improved technology and a 211 website, our three-digit 2-1-1 number was born. Change is hard for me; I am a creature of habit. But the one thing that has never changed is our connection with the callers – if anything, it’s gotten better. That’s what matters. Through all these years, we’re still doing the core work – connecting with people.
This is a challenging job and not for the faint of heart. It’s also not a boring job, for we never know what we’ll get on the other side of the line – it could be a person calling about suicide, homicide, substance abuse, food pantries, rental assistance.
One call in particular sticks out in my mind. One year I was working on Christmas, and I received a call from a seven-year-old little boy wanting to know why Santa Claus had forgotten about him and his four-year-old brother. I asked to speak with his mom, who was sleeping; when she came to the phone and I told her about her son’s call, she cried because she didn’t have any funds to buy gifts that year. I was able to provide his mom with resources and made phone calls to find a local church with toys. Mom was able to turn the holiday around for her boys by telling them that Santa did not forget them, he was just delayed because he had so many children to visit.
I spent 25 years in our call center and two years now in our Information Department, so I’ve heard and done it all: hurricanes, snowstorms, blizzards, earthquakes, power outages, Covid.
Covid was life changing for all of us. We felt lost, scared, confused and a lot of pressure; our governor and residents were all counting on us. We couldn’t think about our own feelings and needs; we had to put on our crisis hats and work really long shifts. Mental health, suicide and domestic violence calls increased through the roof. Our elderly population felt scared and alone – all their lifelines had shut down. I remember taking a call from an elderly woman crying. She didn’t need anything, she was just so grateful that I was there, a live person on the phone to hear her out, to hear a human voice. It was life changing for our residents to know they could call at 4 am and someone would answer their calls and say hello.
Now that I work in the Information Department, I get to see another perspective. I continue to help residents by coaching the call center staff, doing community outreach, teaching about 211 and training with our 211 website.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it is to be caring, meet people where they are and not be judgmental, for you never know what someone is going through. You may be someone’s last hope without ever realizing it.
Monica is amazing, right? To take care of herself and decompress, she spends time outdoors volunteering at a horse barn – her horses are her comfort and therapy, and she feels most comfortable in her barn clothes and boots. She also loves to plan day trips and find off-the-grid roads to explore, as well as hike, spend time at the beach, by the water and in Vermont.
When she is not working or taking care of her mom, Monica lives in Newington with her husband of 27 years, 17-year-old son, 19-year-old college daughter and non-friendly black cat named Midnight. She loves to read, watch scary movies and is a self-proclaimed “excellent baker.” Sunsets are her passion.
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