Spotlight on CFCS: Andrew Mello
There are countless stories that live within our walls at CFCS, but not all of them come from the children and families we work with. Our employees – the social workers, case managers, interns, admins and directors who make our agency run smoothly – are the reason for our success as an organization. They also happen to be interesting people with quite a few good stories of their own!
We’re highlighting the rich experiences and perspectives our staff bring to the office with a series on the blog called “Spotlights on CFCS”. Today we’re celebrating Andrew Mello, House Manager at Putnam Place!
Tell us about yourself!
In high school, when they asked what I wanted to do , I said “help people”. In high school and after, I was very involved in my church, helping people that way, but I didn’t want to be a priest. Through my work at church, I learned that I worked well with kids. I studied early education in college, focusing on special ed studies. And after college, I joined the Peace Corps to teach.
Andrew in Burkina Faso, in the middle of chores.
In the Peace Corps, I went to Burkina Faso, a West African country between Mali and Cote d’Ivoire. I helped overhaul a village preschool, working with my team to introduce good curricula and non-corporal punishments for the students. I was also part of gender equality efforts, where we helped get more girls enrolled in school and tried to share the message with local men in the village that women are equal to men and should be seen as equals.
What does your job as Putnam Place House Manager involve?
It changes from day to day. I like that you never really know what to expect. I help make sure the house is running properly – that we’re good on food, our budget is in check, functional things like that. But I support our clinical team and try to learn from them when I can, because I’d like to go to school for social work.
One time one of our residents saw me playing my bass guitar in the office because that’s something I do when I’m stressed out. He was excited and asked me to play for him, so I did. I talked to him about how playing the bass is good for my mental health, it’s a great coping skill. There’s lots of moments like that with residents. Sometimes it’s checking in with they and saying hey, sometimes it’s reminding them to do their chores. There’s a balance. And I very much enjoy working with them.
I think my experience in the Peace Corps has had an impact on my job here. We have two residents right now who come from different countries in East Africa. It’s one of those things where if you haven’t been there, you don’t really understand. In Burkina Faso and other underdeveloped countries, it’s kind of like the wild west. I love to talk about it, and I can share my experience with those residents, but I find it also helps me interact with people in many different ways. Spending time in such a different place helped me break out of some of those social boxes in American culture that can limit us.
What’s one thing about your job you’d want people to know?
That’s a really hard question actually! Just that I do it and I like it. People’s misinterpretations of it – oh, that must be so sad [to work with youth in group homes] – I think they’re putting too much weight on it because they’re not used to it. But you don’t have to be a saint to do this work. Your heart just has to be in the right place, you have to enjoy talking to people. As long as you care about the population you’re working with, everything else can be trained. But I can’t train you to care about someone.
Anything else you’d like to mention?
Today is (resident) Samir’s birthday, and he’s going to Independent Living soon. Our resident Jack is going to IL as well. They should both be recognized because they’ve put in a lot of hard work. They’ve put in such extraordinary work to better themselves.