Director Regina Bertholdo (standing, right), along with parent liaison Herenia Hernandez, assists parents at the Somerville Schools Parent Information Center. – Photo by Elizabeth Sheeran

Regina Bertholdo, CASPAR honored for service to women

By Elizabeth Sheeran

Once a year during Women’s History Month in March, the Somerville Commission for Women shines a spotlight on a few of those unsung heroes who are making a difference in the community. This year the commission will honor Regina Bertholdo as “Somerville Woman of Excellence,” and CASPAR as Somerville’s “Best Service Provider to Women.”

The commission bestows its annual recognition awards on those who have stood out as examples of people who get things done, sometimes behind the scenes, said Sonja Darai, director of the Office of Somerville Commissions. “We hope people will use them as a role model and follow their lead,” she said.

Darai said Bertholdo was chosen not only because of her outstanding work in her day job as director of the Somerville Schools’ Parent Information Center, but also for her many other roles, including as a founder and current president of the Brazilian Women’s Group, as a board member of the Somerville Community Corporation, as a liaison for homeless families, and as “an outspoken advocate for the immigrant community overall.”

“She is someone who helps facilitate a great many people to connect with resources, and she represents their interests in the community,” said Darai.

The Parent Information Center is designed as a one-stop shopping site for parents to register their children for Somerville public schools. But under Bertholdo’s direction over the past 12 years, the center strives to do so much more. Bertholdo sees its mission as helping families with whatever they need to ensure that kids have a safe, stable environment at home, so they can do well at school.

“We try to support the families, for the kids to be successful,” said Bertholdo, herself the single parent of a daughter, Lara Jiminez, who attended Somerville public schools from kindergarten through 12th grade.

Bertholdo said she measures success by how many families feel comfortable reaching out when they need it, so that she and her staff can respond with a mix of information, advocacy and connections to resources.

“They take a look around and they see the resources that we have, and they often come back,” she said. “Some families won’t tell you at the beginning what they’re going through. If they come back and ask for help for something?…It’s a lot of success stories.”

The center is an important community resource for parents like Dariana Vasquez, who was visiting the center last week to register her son Luis for kindergarten. “It’s great,” said Vasquez. “It’s always good. They have lots of information, including a lot of things in different languages.”

Members of Bertholdo’s staff describe her as a tireless advocate for students and their families, who regularly goes above and beyond, to remove any barriers that could keep kids from getting the best education possible.

“She makes sure that everyone goes to school. She doesn’t leave this office until she finds the transportation, for example,” said Simone Braga, one of the center’s four parent liaisons, who said Bertholdo also makes a point of following up with families afterwards. “She’s very caring about these families. They’re really in good hands, they can tell.”

Parent liaison Marjorie Alexandre, who has known Bertholdo for 17 years, said she has always been a role model for public service. “She was always devoted. Always running around helping people, working with women and their families… everybody,” said Alexandre. “Working with her here really opened our eyes to how to work in the community.”

Bertholdo, who came from Brazil 25 years ago to study for one year at the Harvard Extension School, and never left, said she feels blessed she didn’t face some of the barriers experienced by many immigrants. She said her passion for her fellow human being is what drives her to be so involved, even if it means less time for herself, or to visit her daughter Lara at college in Virginia.

“It’s this inner drive of making a difference. Every day you service someone that you know you made a difference in that person’s life,” said Bertholdo.

Making a difference in people’s lives is what Somerville-based CASPAR does as well. Darai said the Women’s Commission wanted to single out the entire organization for the services it provides to women with substance abuse issues. But it especially wanted to celebrate CASPAR’s New Day program, which provides a mix of recovery, pre-natal and parenting support for pregnant and postpartum women and their newborns, in a residential setting.

CASPAR Executive Director Wilfred Labiosa said the program was the first of its kind in the nation, for women going through a uniquely difficult time. Many are struggling with mental health issues in addition to substance abuse, and most are homeless when they enter the program. He said all are able to move into stable housing when they leave. But the most important measure of success? “Over 325 healthy babies since 1988.”

Labiosa said the recognition from the Women’s Commission means a lot to the non-profit, which can’t get by without community support. CASPAR survives on a mix of public and private funding (its annual fundraiser this year is on April 25), and private resources have become more critical as state funding has been cut at the same time that the need is growing, particularly for young women with substance abuse issues.

And he said the award is also meaningful to the organization’s staff, who don’t get celebrated a lot for the work they do. “We have incredible staff who go way beyond every day to provide these people what they need,” said Labiosa. “What they do is instrumental for these people’s futures.”

The Somerville Commission for Women will present its annual awards to CASPAR and to Regina Bertholdo at the 2012 Women’s History Month Reception, to be held on Wednesday, March 21, 2012 from 6:00 – 7:15 p.m. at the Somerville Visiting Nurses’ Association, 259 Lowell Street. Light refreshments will be served, and the event is free and open to the public.