5 Questions for Evelyn Handley, Receptionist

Welcome to a new feature on the BCI Blog called 5 Questions. Here, we’ll introduce you to the people who make Brandywine Counseling run, spotlighting a different staff member every two weeks.

Name: Evelyn Handley
Job: Receptionist, Alpha program
Time at BCI: 12 years

1. What is something people would be surprised to know about your job?
How much I do! From the time I open the door at 7:00, it’s on. There’s work to be done. People are sometimes lined up outside to come in. Anyone that walks in to the front door, I’m the first person they see. So I more or less help them out, getting their name, their information, showing them how to fill out their packet. A lot of people aren’t capable of reading or writing. I help them with that. I get the packet to the assessor, I chart, I discharge, run the machines, whatever needs to be done, I take care of it.

I hear as much about a person’s problem coming in the door as the counselor they sit down with. I talk to people every day about rape issues, divorces, DFS, people coming into their home, taking their children, the drug and alcohol, a little bit of everything. When they’re done talking to me and they end up coming back, “The information you gave me was wonderful, it was so helpful, I enjoyed talking to you,” I know what I do at the front desk makes a big difference.

2. What advice do you have for someone who would like to do the job you do?
You have to be a people person, for real. You really do. Everyone’s not capable of sitting at that front desk. It can become overwhelming, because your clients come in the door. Some people have good days and bad days. If they’re having a good day, you know it, if they’re having a bad day, you definitely know it because they give you all their stuff. You have to be able to swallow that, keep smiling, and be able to help them at the same time. Also, you have some people that are very aggressive. You need to know how to back them down professionally and with a caring heart, and if that doesn’t work you need to know what next step to take.

3. What has been the most rewarding moment for you since you’ve been at BCI?
When you see a person come in the door crying, and their children have been taken from them, and they admit that they’re on drugs and alcohol, and they stay here for 9 months to a year, and within that time, DFS and Family Court have given their children back to them, you know that our work is really important, that we’ve done all we could to help them build up their self esteem and put them on the right road to recovery. When you see a person that doesn’t have a job, they’re homeless, 9 months from now, they have it all or they’re on their way to getting it, that’s rewarding.

4. If you had $30,000 to donate to Brandywine Counseling, what would you do with it?
It would have to go to two different places, I would split it. Our Bridge Perinatal, and our HIV [Outreach]. I started out with the HIV department. Street outreach is important - that was said to me maybe my second year by [Executive Director] Sara Allshouse. I didn’t know just how important it was. I knew the job I was doing, I went out on the street, I talked to people about HIV, about BCI and what we do here, we wore the T-shirt. But once that was said to me, I went a little further.

There were people that didn’t have rides, they lived in very harsh places in the city of Wilmington. We would get out of our bed at 5:00 in the morning, and go to these people’s homes and pick them up, just to get them in, because these people were either HIV positive or AIDS defined. And once getting them through the front door, we were able to have the assessment done to get the type of treatment they really needed.

5. Many of our staff decorate their office with personal items – tell us about what you have at your desk.
First of all, I’m lucky to have this job. I’m a recovering addict, and I had said, “There’s no way in the world these people would hire me because of my background.” The question was asked of me, being a recovering addict, what did I want out of life? I said I wanted an opportunity to build a life for myself and my son. And [Medical Director] Kay Malone, and Sally Allshouse, God bless her soul, said, we’re going to give you the opportunity to do so, and they did. I have actually built a life here. I’ve bought a home here. I have my son in my life, cars, a mortgage. I’ve built a life here.

The only thing that means more to me than anything else in this world is my son. His name flows across my computer [on the screensaver]. That’s all I need. That reminds me why I changed my life. It reminds me why I’m still here, raising him and making a better life for him than I had for myself. That’s important to me, and whenever I turn around to that computer, I see his name come across, it makes all the difference in the world. I don’t need a picture of him, he’s in my mind all the time.