Interview w/ Denise Roller, Housekeeper at Brookside ITU

Name: Denise Roller
Position: Housekeeper
Campus: Brookside ITU
Time in Current Position: 10.5 years
Previous Positions: Floating Housekeeper
Years with Hillcrest: 11 years

Do you remember how you learned about your position?
I think it was advertised in the Berkshire Eagle. I’ve been with Hillcrest for 11 years and when I was first hired, I was hired as a floating housekeeper. So I used to go to all the campuses, wherever I was needed. I was hired in April, and that September I came down to the ITU as their permanent housekeeper.  

And did you have a background related to the job? 
Yeah, I did. I’ve been a housekeeper for quite a while. 

What appealed to you about the job with Hillcrest? 
Well, actually I had a good interview with Jim Clark. But I really wasn’t excited about the job because I wasn’t sure about the environment. When I was first working, I hated it. I did. But then, I don’t know, something clicked. And I just love it. I love the environment.

How long do you think it took to click?
I’m gonna say, well, I hated going to all the different campuses because I felt like I didn’t have a home. So then when I finally came down to the ITU, I knew that this was my home now and I could do things the way I wanted. And so, I’m gonna say a good seven, eight months it took me to realize that, you know what, I love this job. I was able to put things where I wanted them. When you’re a floating housekeeper, you’re filling in for everyone else. [As the ITU housekeeper], I get to do things the way I like them done. 

And the kids were great. When I first came down here, it was boys and girls, so it was a little different. And the staff was great! Everything just clicked.

Does your job give you many opportunities to interact with the students? 
Oh yeah, definitely. I’ll be walking around the campus going from building to building and some of the kids might be on the swings. I love the kids so I’ll go over and I’ll say hi and I’ll swing. I just love interacting with them. And I play a different role because I’m not there to tell them, “Okay! It’s time to go to lunch.” “You gotta clean your room!” I play a whole different role. 

What are the happiest moments for you while working for Hillcrest? 
I love seeing the kids when they’re happy. When they’re smiling or if they’re in a good mood, it puts me in a good mood. It really does. And I love to see them on the swings because when they swing, they’re singing.

What is the hardest part of your job?
Seeing kids in a crisis. Seeing kids in restraints. Seeing kids when they’re out of [sorts]. It’s also tough to watch kids be mean to the staff. That’s really hard for me. When I see the kids bad-mouthing the staff, because the staff here are great. And we’re the good guys. And the kids you know, they have a tough time. That’s the tough part. 

What surprised you the most about the job? 
Well, that’s a good question. What surprised me? Um, just what this organization does for these kids. Like at Christmas time, they have all their [Holiday Wish] gifts, and they have their Easter baskets, and they have their picnics. Just seeing what Hillcrest does for these kids is just, it’s phenomenal.

Who is the most influential person in your work life right now? 
Okay, so this is going to sound terrible, but I’m going to be honest, okay? I don’t want to sound narcissistic, but myself. Because of the fact that I was scared to be here at first and the way things turned around and the way I turned around and said, “No, don’t be scared, just be yourself.” So I’m really proud of the way that I turned myself around. 

There are a lot of influential people here. I mean, almost everybody here. You could say any employee of Hillcrest is a special person, right? Because we all have to have something special to work here, to stay here. We have to have thick skin. We really do. 

What kind of person do you think succeeds working at Hillcrest?
They have to be very, very strong. Kind of like an angel. They’re like angels with wings here. [Some days] it’s really tough. It takes a very, very special person to stay here. They got to love kids. 

Do you have any favorite stories about the kids? 
Well, I have a lot of them. There’s a girl here. She hasn’t been here very long, she hates being here [because she’s still new.] And I took a liking to her. One day, I went to clean the dorm and she was in her room with the door shut. The poor staff who was with her was trying to get her to open the door and she was ignoring the staff. So, I put my cleaning stuff down, and I went over and I knocked on the door. I called her name and I said, “This is Miss Denise.” 

She says, “Oh, hi.” And I said, “You know what, you need to open that door.”

And she goes, “No…and why?” 

I said, “We’ll I’ll tell you why. Because I’m leaving.” 

And she says “What!?” and that door swung right open. “Miss Denise, why you’re leaving? Why are you leaving?” 

And I said, “I’m not leaving for good. I just want to say hi. I’m leaving the dorm now.”

She goes, “Oh, you tricked me. You lied to me!” 

I said, “No, no, I didn’t lie to you and I didn’t trick you. But look what I did. I got you to open that door.”

And she loved it. She tells everybody that story. If there’s a new staff, she’ll say, “Oh, you should have seen what Miss Denise did to me one day.”

I say, “Yeah, but it was a good thing, wasn’t it?” 

And she’ll say, “Yeah.” 

Do you have anything else you’d like to add? 
I like to go around the campus and pick flowers, and I put them in a cup. I put them around the campus because I think that flowers make people smile. And it’s nice to see flowers in the windows. The kids like it. And for their birthdays, I’ll pick some flowers and then I’ll go and put them on their desks at school, with a little note, “Happy birthday. – Miss Denise”. So I love doing little things like that that hopefully make a difference.

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