Volunteers are the strength of health and human service agencies. Every year, United Way honors Community Builders - volunteers who are shining examples of service. These Community Builders are nominated by the agencies they serve. Here are some of their stories, as submitted by the nominatiny agencies.

Community Builder – Day of Caring Award:
Vera Alston
Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages

Vera Alston has enthusiastically coordinated Day of Caring activities for Trumbull-based Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages for the past several years. During this time, Alston, a resident of Stratford, has done an outstanding job of managing all aspects of the projects including the recruitment and deployment of Cadbury’s teams of volunteers and careful supervision of the team’s project. Her efforts are clearly successful with Cadbury consistently hosting one of the larger volunteer teams, often with more than thirty members. Alston’s proficiency in administrating Cadbury’s Day of Caring activities is evident, as their projects always run with apparent ease – a sure sign of an organized mastermind behind the scenes.

Her interaction with United Way of Eastern Fairfield County is unmatched. In fact, she has been the first to respond to the Day of Caring announcement for the last three years! She conducts herself with great professionalism and has taken a keen interest in the community service goal of Day of Caring and her role in the project. She is always eager to participate in the event and lead the project for Cadbury.

Alston’s graciousness and willingness to take on this project each year are both refreshing and helpful. Her enthusiastic involvement has helped to make the annual Day of Caring a huge success year after year. For all these reasons, Vera Alston is deserving of the Community Builder Award for Day of Caring.

Nominated by Joanne Cannon
United Way of Eastern Fairfield County

Community Builder - Lifetime Achievement Award:
Jacky Durrell
Former First Selectman, Town of Fairfield

In southwestern Fairfield County when you mention a dynamic community leader named Jacky, there is no doubt about whom you are speaking – Jacky Durrell. Through her volunteer work with more than 25 organizations and her elected positions, she has constantly given of her personal time and talent to make the community a better place for all of us.

Durrell is so accessible and truly interested in the welfare of her neighbors, especially individuals who need an advocate and may not be able to voice their own needs and concerns. Today she is still recognized as one of the finest First Selectmen that the Town of Fairfield has ever had. During her tenure, a large amount of land was set aside as open space, a home was sold to The Kennedy Center for use as a group home, and, to this day, she continues her support of Operation Hope and its services for the homeless.

As if that is not an incredible number of accomplishments, Durrell managed all her personal, professional, and volunteer activities as a breast cancer survivor. It has now been more than thirty years since she first faced that difficult diagnosis, but she has turned that adversity into a real advantage for the greater Bridgeport community. Her work with cancer groups at both Bridgeport Hospital and St. Vincent’s Medical Center and her past leadership with Swim Across the Sound provide confidence and hope to victims of cancer.

In addition to several honorary doctorates, Durrell has been the recipient of numerous awards including United Way of Eastern Fairfield County’s Spirit of Caring, BRBC’s Person of the Year and YWCA’s Salute to Women. Durrell has lived the life, walked the walk and talked the talk. We are all beneficiaries of her caring, dedicated and concerned leadership. For the accomplishments noted above and all her other contributions to the betterment of the greater Bridgeport Community, Jacky Durrell is most deserving of the Community Builder Lifetime Achievement Award.

Nominated by Martin D. Schwartz, President/CEO
The Kennedy Center, Inc.

Community Builder – Operation Graduation:
Robert M. Francis
Executive Director, RYASAP

Robert M. Francis, a Madison resident, is the consummate nonprofit professional. A member of BCAC, BRBC, Leadership Greater Bridgeport and other policy-making groups, he is a master of community building, advocacy, fundraising, recruiting, innovative programming and empowering talented staff. As Executive Director of RYASAP, he has led the way in the development of solid techniques, programs and training on Positive Youth Development (PYD) strategies. Another example of how he makes good things happen is his persistence in the shared goal of developing a leadership program for high school students. This long-held goal was realized when RYASAP secured funding for the program and built the coalition to make it happen for high school students. The work is done in all the high schools of the region, and the shared development of these programs brings together youth from our six-town region. In addition, Francis has always been very generous with his time in helping other nonprofit organizations with his participation, guidance, suggestions and models so that their work can be more effective.

Francis is an active participant in United Way of Eastern Fairfield County’s Operation Graduation initiative. His continued research on the issue of risky behaviors, the development of resilience factors, the building of solid support networks, the groundbreaking work on juvenile justice and many other initiatives that he has spearheaded serve to make graduation a more attainable goal for all students. For all his work in helping to ensure that youth in the greater Bridgeport community leave 12 th grade college-ready, Robert Francis has earned the Community Builder Award for Operation Graduation.

Nominated by Janice Martin, Executive Vice President
Bridgeport Regional Business Council

Community Builder - Destination Home:
Herbert Gratrix
Lycoming Division of AVCO and Textron, Retired

Herbert Gratrix is passionate about making sure that every child has a safe haven. In 1988 he joined The Council of Churches of Greater Bridgeport’s Board of Directors and immediately became involved in the Youth Services Advisory Committee and Janus House, a program for teens at risk of becoming homeless. For his ongoing work in this area, Gratrix has been selected for the Community Builder – Destination Home Award.

The Janus House program grew in direct response to an alarming number of teens at risk of homelessness due to conflicts at home, at school or with the police. In the beginning, respite care was provided through a network of host homes in the community. In 1979, The Council bought a spacious house on Barnum Avenue, which became the Youth in Crisis Program’s headquarters. Gratrix effectively served as foreman for a monumental renovation project in the early 90’s and later oversaw the construction of a major addition to the house. He is a “hands-on” volunteer – handy with a hammer; he is eager to tackle repairs and home improvements himself, often getting the young people staying at the house involved, making them feel right at home.

For the past three years Gratrix has served as Chairman of the Youth Services Advisory Committee, which guides and shapes Janus House Center’s program and direction. This program is currently the greater Bridgeport region’s sole provider of intervention and respite services for teens and families, providing counseling and the option of temporary shelter and care. The goal is to keep the family intact and the child out of state systems. The approach is successful: of the more than 400 children and families served last year, 95% of the children returned to their families, and both child and family reported that home life had dramatically improved.

Gratrix is concerned with the welfare of young people - his philosophy is all about creating a caring community – particularly when it comes to youth. He observes, “the solutions to most of our community’s problems lie in building young people – in getting them constructively involved, in helping them take ownership of their education, in giving them the tools and resources to work through problems and achieve their goals.” For over 22 years, he has put that philosophy into action by giving tirelessly of his time and talent to two Council programs that work directly with young people.

Nominated by John R. Cottrell, Acting Executive Director
The Council of Churches of Greater Bridgeport

Community Builder – Success By 6®:
Darcy Lowell, M.D.
Director Child FIRST, Bridgeport Hospital

Dr. Darcy Lowell is the energy and force behind numerous early childhood initiatives in Bridgeport. There is nothing that she cannot tackle, nothing she does not have the energy and drive to achieve. She has inspired an entire community to accomplish the impossible, and to always, ALWAYS, remember the children. Dr. Lowell has the rare combination of vision, leadership, drive and energy to make real change. She began as Director of the Child Development Resource Service at Bridgeport Hospital, twenty years ago, after completing her fellowships at Yale University School of Medicine. She did comprehensive developmental assessments of young children with developmental delays. She listened to impoverished mothers and came to believe that helping one baby and mother at a time was not enough; systems needed to be changed. She rallied community partners, and with no funding, created the first neighborhood based, early childhood Family Support Center, a homelike environment where mothers could be mentored and nurtured so they could nurture and stimulate their children. In 1994, she spearheaded a grant to the Robert Woods Johnson Local Initiative Funding Partners to begin the first Healthy Families program.

Most recently, Dr. Lowell, a Weston resident, created a new model “Early Childhood System of Care” called Child FIRST (Child and Family Interagency Resource, Support, and Training Program). Child FIRST is based on the premise that to understand a child’s needs, we must also understand the child’s most important relationships and the challenges and stressors in the environment which prevent parents from being available to stimulate, nurture, and respond to their children. In 2001, in collaboration with the local Early Head Start program, she received a one million dollar grant from SAMHSA to prove the effectiveness of this program. In total, Dr. Lowell has brought over four million dollars for services into the Bridgeport community. For all of her work on behalf of young children, Dr. Darcy Lowell well deserves the Community Builder Award for Success by 6®.

Nominated by June Malone, Ph.D. Director of Child Care
ABCD, Inc.

Community Builder – Youth Award:
Amanda Peloso
Senior, Joel Barlow High School

Amanda Peloso is an exemplary young woman, who is enthusiastic about her volunteer activities. She served as Team Captain of Monroe’s Relay for Life to help raise money for finding a cancer cure. She has prepared and served dinners to the homeless at Golden Hill United Methodist Church in Bridgeport. Helping people is very important to Peloso, who not only willingly takes on responsibilities but also follows through on those responsibilities. She has taken an active leadership role initiating, planning and coordinating PALS activities and mentoring students with special needs, such as autism and language difficulties. She brings her great sense of humor along as she works with these same students both during the summer and also after classes during the school year. One of Peloso’s goals is to raise awareness of autism and to help find a cure. She is planning to attend college next year and to major in childhood education so, as she states, she can “be part of a system that teaches and forms people into future doctors or firemen -- people who become heroes.”

As a Senior Girl Scout, Peloso earned the Silver Award in 2003 and is currently working toward the Gold Award. According to her Girl Scout leader Susan Dellenbaugh, “Amanda is a compassionate, hard-working and outgoing human being.” Peloso, an Easton resident and twelfth grader at Joel Barlow High School, is very active in extracurricular activities. She is a member of the Debate Club and the Tennis Team and serves as Assistant Editor for the Yearbook.

The Associate Pastor of Notre Dame church where Amanda is a member states, “I have always found Amanda to be conscientious and respectful.” Peloso is an outstanding young woman, a positive role model and a future leader. Because of her extensive and active participation in a variety of volunteer activities, Amanda Peloso is a fitting recipient for the Community Builder Youth Award.

Nominated by Lynne Raymond, CEO
Girl Scouts of Housatonic Council, Inc.

Community Builder – Supporting A Caring Community: Jerome L. Rookasin
Retired Educator, Bunnell High School, Stratford, CT

Jerry Rookasin’s tireless work on behalf of those in need in the greater Bridgeport community is manifest in all his volunteer projects. He is a member of Abraham’s Lodge, a volunteer men’s club devoted to improving the lives of those less fortunate, and he served as its president for five years. He has volunteered at the Veterans’ Hospital in West Haven and with the special needs children at the Circus sponsored by Elizabeth Pfriem.

Rookasin is currently working diligently as the Chair of the Community Closet, a program whose goal is to give fundamental help to people in need who are trying to gain self-sufficiency. He is an active member of Friends of Seaside Park and an energetic volunteer for St. Vincent’s Swim Across the Sound.

A resident of Monroe, Rookasin initiated Town-Wide Cleanups there and, since 1987, has participated on its Memorial Day Parade Committee. Since 1990 he has worked in the kitchen at both Bridgeport Hospital and St. Vincent’s Medical Center on Christmas Day in order to give those who wish to celebrate the holiday time to do so. Several years ago, he began the practice of donating Thanksgiving turkeys to the women at Isaiah House.

Rookasin is a person who cares deeply about his community and the people who reside in it. Not only does he spends countless hours working to make our world a better place, but he also makes the effort to get others to join him. In 1997, he was the recipient of the Connecticut Distinguished Service Award and in 2002 the Connecticut Public Service Award. For all of his volunteer work with countless organizations and projects, Jerry Rookasin is a worthy recipient of the Community Builder award for Supporting A Caring Community.

Nominated by Laurie Gross, Director of
Community Relations
Jewish Federation of Eastern Fairfield County

Community Builder – Group Synergy Award:
Sterling House Community Center
Food Pantry Volunteers

The volunteers of the Sterling House Community Center Food Pantry give their time so those in need of food do not go hungry. During their numerous hours each week at the Food Pantry, the volunteers engage in a variety of tasks that help ensure the smooth running of the facility. Monday through Thursday, they unload cars, sort food, organize shelves, fill orders and meet with clients. More than 5,000 families are seen per year and 41,000 meals are provided. Each volunteer donates between three and thirty-five hours per week.

Sterling House’s Food Pantry began in 1992 after receiving a start up grant from United Way of Eastern Fairfield County. Three years ago when one staff person ran the pantry, a volunteer arrived to help organize the pantry. She in turn recruited others willing to help, and together they have made it a well-oiled operation. This group of volunteers never hesitates to go and pick up food in their own cars or to help people who bring in food donations. Another aspect of the job is driving to area bakeries in the early morning and late evening to secure the day old bread and pastries to distribute at the Food Pantry.

The assistance of these dedicated volunteers helps ensure that the Sterling House Community Center Food Pantry runs efficiently and effectively. For their efforts and abilities in helping their less fortunate neighbors, the Sterling House Community Center Food Pantry volunteers are deserving of the Community Builder Award Group Synergy.

Nominated by: JoAnn B. Henault, Volunteer Coordinator
Sterling House Community Center

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