Steps Forward

Janette Romero, Pathway of Hope case manager for The Salvation Army in Meriden, Conn., talks about studying theology, why helping her clients is like having a one-on-one classroom, and the importance of starting her morning with prayer.

I relocated from Puerto Rico to Meriden to be closer to my sick sister. After some time, both my husband and I found ourselves unemployed and looking for work. I was a deacon at my church, so I needed a job that would allow me the flexibility to continue serving. I also wanted to be somewhere I could share the Word of God with the people around me. When I interviewed for The Salvation Army Meriden Corps, they were looking for someone who would be dedi­cated, believed in the Lord, and open to helping a little more around the holidays. I talked about what I did as an active Christian in my church; they said that’s what they needed here too.

The programs of The Salvation Army succeed because God is at the center of them. When a client asks me about a path to the Lord, I don’t talk about my work in my own church, though I am still active in it. Instead, I introduce them to the congregation and pastors of the Meriden Corps. There are people right now in our building who are ready to pray and guide them toward Him.

Pathway of Hope is based on goals. The people we help bring their goals and hopes to us, and from there, we take steps to accomplishing them. For someone who feels like they can’t get anything done, that may mean showing them how to write down all the chores they want to get done today, putting them in order of importance, and finishing them one by one. For a client who wants to get a driver’s license, we go down the list of requirements and information that they will need. But the most important thing is that I stay engaged in the lives of people I help. It’s a work in progress, not a handout or a program that changes a life immediately. But it’s all worth it when they return with their new driver’s license or proudly tell me how they finished everything on the list we made together.

I love being inside a classroom. It doesn’t matter if I’m the oldest student in there, because there is always something new to learn. In Puerto Rico, I got my bachelor’s degree in business administration. Years later, I took classes in Hartford for another bachelor’s in theology. I wanted to learn theology because so many people distort the message of the Bible. If someone comes to me asking about the Word of God, I don’t want to mislead them. I want to have access to those lessons and information. I saw my theology professor recently. She said she was waiting for me to go back for my master’s. But before that, I want to learn to speak Italian.

I pray in the morning. Philippians 4:13 says we can do anything through God who gives us strength. That includes the strength to simply start your day. When I hear the difficulties that my clients are going through, they tell me that they’ve tried talking to their mom, their dad, their best friends, but nothing works. I say, “OK, now have you tried talking to God?”

photo by J. Fiereck Photography