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09/13/2017 08:30 AMFrom health care to housing, energy assistance to food stamps, job training to employment assistance, and much more, for 26 years, North Branford residents seeking social services benefits available from government, non-profit and private sources have gone to Luisa Breen for answers.
As the town’s assistant director of social services, Luisa runs a one-person office and reports to the town manager in his capacity as director. Her job, once a part-time position, became a full-time role about five years ago to meet growing needs.
“It’s changed a great deal from when I first came in. Back then, the office primarily did what was then known as ‘welfare’ and some energy assistance, and that was all,” says Luisa, noting that, at that time, residents could avail themselves of both “city” (offered by the town) and state welfare programs. Since then, all such programs are now offered through the state.
Now, the list of services available through her office is so extensive, it fills the North Branford Social Services webpage and a library of literature lining the lobby walls outside of Luisa’s office near the Senior Center in the Stanley T. Williams (STW) Community Center.
Luisa also curates the North Branford Social Services Facebook page, initiated about a year ago, where she posts the most current opportunities, events, and options for residents of all ages and stages. She also still uses tried-and-true methods to spread information, from pinning notices to church bulletin boards to placing pieces at Town Hall to the Community Dining Room and putting announcements in local newspapers.
Luisa’s latest approach to reach out to citizens with helpful information was to offer four “Little Class” sections at STW in July and August, all of which were taped by Totoket TV (TTV) and are available online now at the TTV’s YouTube channel. Luisa brought in experts with information targeted to individuals, seniors, parents, veterans, and family members on topics including Home Energy Solutions, health coverage, tax benefits, SNAP (formerly food stamps), and many other areas of assistance available.
“We have people with short-term goals and we have people with long-term goals,” says Luisa. “Some people you might only help one time because they are facing a tragedy or one-time situation, and I may never hear from them again, because they’re okay. And then you have other people who need more assistance, like those who need it seasonally.”
Luisa is there for clients who come to her for reasons including age, income, disability, mental health, and more.
“No two programs are the same,” says Luisa, who loves finding ways to help others—and include others—in her work.
One of the ideas she’s working on now, still in the very formative stages, is to raffle off a tie donated by Vineyard Vines, with proceeds used to start an Uber account that can assist domestic violence victims with rides to a safe place from North Branford Police Headquarters.
“Sometimes, people are just leaving the threat of domestic violence, but they need to get somewhere, like to a friend [or a family member] and maybe they don’t have a vehicle, so they go to the Police Department,” says Luisa.
A program she’s offering right now through her office is a Back to School backpack program, where children get school supplies and a $30 gift card to Payless Shoes. That program is funded by the Salvation Army; Luisa is an officer of the Salvation Army for the Town of North Branford.
This time of year, the calendar is filling with deadlines and programs that Luisa is ready to manage for the town.
“Applications for energy [assistance are] now beginning, and applications for Operation Fuel, which is a separate program and then we’re doing the veteran’s [information session] in November, and Thanksgiving food baskets in November,” says Luisa. “And then at Christmas time, I do a program where you can get your holiday meal and gifts for children. I do a Toys for Tots program where gifts are collected throughout the town and I set up a room where parents can come and choose a toy for each child, and the next day for grandparents [to select toys as gifts], because we have grandparents living in the community who are living on Social Security and a fixed income.”
Even with all of the effort, programs, and outreach, Luisa sometimes still hears from people who are surprised to learn North Branford has a Social Services Department. Most recently the misunderstanding may be due to town budget cuts removing the town’s two part-time clinical social workers from the town’s payroll.
“Sometimes people may get confused between this office and social work, which offers therapeutic counseling—and that is correct, we do not have social workers,” said Luisa, who now provides referrals to outside providers of therapeutic clinical social work.
Even though it’s a busy job for one person, Luisa also sees a benefit.
“When you have people who are in need, I’m only one face; I think that helps,” says Luisa.
Prior to working for the town, Luisa was hired as the administrator for New Haven-based Life Haven, which was founded as an at-risk facility for minor pregnant teens. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration in industrial psychology and went on to earn her master’s in Public Health Programs from Quinnipiac University (then Quinnipiac College). Licensed by state and federal government as a nursing home administrator, Luisa’s first career work involved facilitating the openings of two nursing home facilities.
Suffice it to say, Luisa is at her best when she can help others. One of the perks of being located just steps away from the doors of the town’s Senior Center is that it gives her a chance to help folks who may not otherwise come in contact with her office.
“They might be eligible for something, even if they think they aren’t!” says Luisa, “I’ll say, ‘Let’s just try to get a tank of [home heating] oil—let’s see how it works out.’ And once they get that tank of oil, and that month, they didn’t have put out $300, $500, $600...and they feel that financial relief, then it’s easier for them to do it a second time. But sometimes you have to introduce it, step by step.”