This article by By Sean Krofssik appeared in the Hartford Courant.
Hartford’s The Village for Families & Children continues to be a regular as one of the Courant’s Top Workplaces. This year is the sixth straight such recognition for the non-profit.
President and Chief Executive Officer Hector Glynn has been with the organization since 2007. He stepped into his new post in January 2024 and said the mission continues.
“The easiest way to describe it is you know we’re a mission-driven organization that has impact,” Glynn said.
“And when you go to work every day and you can actually feel that you’re making a difference, that makes people be willing to go above and beyond,” he said. “And when you create a culture that says, we’re going to make sure that our clients in our community, our position to be successful, even though the work is hard and can be tiring – you go home happy.”
The mission for the non-profit is to create strong, vibrant communities that help support children and families.
“That includes behavior health, and we are dealing with some of the most sick kids in the state,” Glynn said. “We are also doing prevention work, afterschool programs for the city of Hartford or providing financial literacy. We run the full spectrum and wherever we can make an impact, that’s what we try to do.”
Glynn said five or six years ago the organization started running a volunteer tax program. He added that there is an alignment between financial stability and mental stability.
Glynn said that the COVID pandemic changed the landscape for the Village and was a Hartford-centric organization but now has expanded to surrounding towns.
“After COVID hit it really accelerated the loneliness epidemic for both adult children, our services became in greater and greater demand. We used to be an organization that was like 96% of Medicaid. Now, almost a third of all our clients are coming in from suburbs because they can’t access mental health anywhere else,” Glynn said.
In all, the Village, established in 1809, serves 20,000 individuals annually with 130 children in foster care and about 50 living on campus. The Village has 600 employees and has seven that have been with the organization for more than 30 years.
Glynn said the employees at the Village have a common goal, see the impact they are having and that their work makes a difference.
“A lot of people work hard but sometimes they don’t see the fruits of what they were able to accomplish,” Glynn said. “We’re lucky enough to see that. When we touch a family and they’re able to say, now I can pay my rent or my child isn’t having suicidal thoughts anymore, and we’re in a better place.”
Glynn added that the Village has a diverse and proud workplace.
“We enjoy and celebrate our differences, and we believe that that is part of our secret to success,” Glynn said. “We still believe that in our diversity. We have strength and understanding the community and people that we serve.”
Among the longest serving employees at the Village is Dr. Catherine Corto-Mergins. She is the director of training at the Collaborative Trauma Center. She’s been with the non-profit for more than 32 years.
“I never thought I would stay this long, but I love The Village,” Corto-Mergins said. “That’s what’s kept me here. Everyone talks about the mission of the village, but it really is something that I think is commendable in terms of the organization, its ability to really reach out into the community.
“The changes that I’ve seen how much I’ve seen the village grow in the time that I’ve been here, is just tremendous, the growth of the programs we have, the ability to meet people’s needs at all different levels, whether it’s basic needs and grassroots level or whether it’s highly clinical needs of helping people just overcome some big traumas that they’ve experienced in relationship barriers in their lives.”
She said the most satisfying parts of the job are witnessing change in relationships, in children’s behavior, a change in professional development.
“There are just “wow” moments,” Corto-Mergins said. “I think also for me, just my ability to grow with The Village, both personally and professionally, I have colleagues that I started working with there that have become friends for life. The ability to form relationships with people who are like minded, who are really committed to helping the community and people in the community get to a better place. A lot of times in this situation at The Village, people come to you during some of the most difficult times in their lives.”
“I’ve been blessed to have been there so long to see children and families that I worked with, you know, 20, 30 years ago, who now have children and families of their own, and are doing well, right, have been able to buy a house through the financial center at The Village,” she added. “Because now they learn how to budget, how to apply for a mortgage, and all of those kinds of things, or just being able to see relationships mend between families is just, it’s just precious work.”
The Village operates at the original campus at 1680 Albany Ave. as well as the former Trolley Barn building at 331 Wethersfield Avenue and the former Shelter for Women at Gray Lodge on Spring Street, all in Hartford. The Village also has programs at several Hartford Public Schools and offices in Manchester, Meriden, Middletown and Bloomfield.