The Manchester Department of Children and Families unveiled six newly remodeled visitation rooms on Wednesday for parents and children to use.
Erin Wasicki, an investigation social worker, spearheaded the effort.
“When children are in DCF care and visiting with their parents, it’s never easy. It’s not easy on the kids, it’s not easy on the parents and those children will never forget that experience, speaking from experience,” said Wasicki.
Wasicki was removed as a child at just 7 years old. She now is the first person to make contact with families. About six years ago when she started at the Manchester office, she noticed how stark the visitation rooms looked. They had white walls and very little toys or furniture.
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“If they’re in a room that looks like a jail cell, how is that really facilitating happiness and wholeness and nurturing. They’re resonating their visits with their parents in that setting and that’s not healthy for them and ultimately that’s who we’re here for is those kids,” Wasicki said.
So Wasicki said she approached a supervisor and asked if they could renovate the Manchester rooms, something she knew had been done in the Willimantic office when she was previously an intern there.
The office director gave her the green light so she contacted the Manchester Lions Club for help. The project was initially put on pause because of the COVID pandemic, but recently, with the additional support of nearby Lions Clubs, they brought in volunteers and Home Depot in Manchester provided a $2,000 grant to use on paint, supplies and additional items like baby gates and cleaning supplies.
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“I painted, then got a hold of members of my club to collected toys, posters, carpets, rocking chairs and things like that to make it a comfortable environment,” said John Habif, a South Windsor Lions Clubs member who volunteered his time.
Now with six vibrant family visitation rooms filled with toys and furniture for families, DCF held a ribbon cutting and Wasicki thanked everyone for their hard work.
“It’s amazing to see people come together like that for these kids,” said Wasicki.
