Interview w/ Jackie Mercado, Admissions Coordinator at our Administrative Offices

Name: Jackie Mercado
Position: Admissions Coordinator
Previous Position: Support to Admissions Coordinator
Campus: Administrative Offices
Years in Current Position: 20 years
Years with Hillcrest: 22 years

What do you do as an admissions coordinator?
My primary task is processing the referrals that come to us, and then once the child is accepted, getting all the necessary documents together. I mean, there’s much more but that’s the gist. 

How did you get started in your role as an admissions coordinator?
So when I started in 2001, I was helping out my predecessor, the admissions coordinator at the time, with the referrals process. It was more of providing support with the amount of referrals we were receiving. A couple of years after she left, I took over as the admissions coordinator. 

Did you have a background related to the job?
No, I did not. Previous to Hillcrest, I worked for a software company that marketed and provided support for the transportation industry (trains, buses, airplanes, etc.).

What appealed to you about the job when you were applying and interviewing? 
I had never really worked in the human services industry. Since I’ve always wanted to work in some capacity with children, this position just caught my attention. And I thought, “Well, if I can make a difference somehow then I should give that a shot.” 

How did you get started with Hillcrest?
So I was commuting between Southbury, Connecticut, and here. My family and I had recently moved up to the Berkshires and I was looking for a job closer to this area. So when I saw the ad for the support position, I thought I’d take a look and see what it entails.

At my previous job we had lost a major client during the 9/11 attack. The company ended up laying off people so I figured I might as well try and find something else. Besides, the commute was almost two hours each way. 

What was the happiest moment for you while working for Hillcrest? 
I think whenever I hear about one of our students moving on to something better, that’s always a plus because it means we’re doing good work. Hillcrest not only benefits children therapeutically, but also helps them to move onto a brighter future. 

What is the hardest part of your job? 
I think even to this day, the hardest part is reading children’s history, the trauma our kids have gone through. I’ve been here for over 20 years. I still can’t fathom that someone has to endure [what our students have endured], and is able to survive it. For me, that shows the resilience and courage of our students. But also it shows how much they really do need Hillcrest and places like Hillcrest. To have some kind of normalcy in their lives, to just be children…they should be able to enjoy their childhoods.

What surprised you the most about the job? 
I think it was just reality…what you don’t hear on TV, you know. We hear in the media about child abuse and stuff like that, but I think it made it even more real for me when I began reading a lot of these cases. There is just so much more going on behind the scenes that we’re not aware of when we hear the news. I didn’t realize… I wasn’t aware of the severity and the level of trauma our children have had to deal with. 

Who is the most influential person in your work life right now?
One of them is a dear friend of mine who works in a similar field. We often talk about our work day, while keeping things confidential of course. It’s good to have someone in a similar field with whom I can talk to and who understands. She’s a dear friend who helps me stay focused and leave work stuff at work.

Do you have any advice for new employees? 
First of all, I totally tip my hat off to the direct care workers because I can only imagine some of the struggles they have to deal with in interacting with kids who haven’t had it easy. So I think having patience with the children is vital. [Remember] they are kids who have not had the opportunity to just be kids. Try to be mentors and good role models, but most importantly be patient and understand what they’ve gone through. Be understanding of their situations and do your best to model what it means to be a good person. And take the time to find common interests (i.e.: sports, art, etc.) to motivate our students to be engaging and come out of their shells. More often than not, our actions do speak louder than words so our staff should be patient with themselves as well.

What kind of person do you think succeeds at Hillcrest? 
Definitely, someone who goes into this job understanding that they’re dealing with children. Someone who is patient, someone who can also bring their creativity into their interactions with our kids. There’s just so much that you can do really, to bring some positivity to the kids and being a good role model is so important. And understanding they are children. They may act like adults sometimes, but they are still children.

Anything else you’d like to add? 
I take it as a privilege to be a part of the Hillcrest team. The work we do is so important as there are many children in need. Hopefully, as we get new staff in, they’ll see that too. I hope our staff view this as a great opportunity to bring something good from their lives to share with our kids. 

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