Volunteer aspires to be ‘voice for the voiceless’
Cecilia Reynolds
offers help day or night
to fellow Latinos
JEFF GRANIT staff Cecilia Reynolds of Freehold Township, publisher of the Spanish newspaper Nosotros, hands out sleeping bags to homeless day laborers in Freehold Borough during a recent siege of cold weather. BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer
She is a teacher, she is a counselor, she is a friend. She is the impetus that has helped to integrate the ever-increasing population of Hispanic residents into the Freehold Borough community.
She is a woman on a mission. She is Cecilia Reynolds.
JEFF GRANIT staff Cecilia Reynolds was part of an effort to give a Christmas dinner to more than 150 local residents on Dec. 15. Basile’s restaurant in Freehold spearheaded the party to assure needy families a happy holiday.
A year ago, you probably wouldn’t find many people who recognized the name Cecilia Reynolds. Today you would be hard pressed to find anyone in Freehold Borough who didn’t recognize her name.
Her volunteer work with the Hispanic community in the borough is now known by people from many cultures and neighborhoods. The 40-year-old is the co-founder/publisher of the Nosotros newspaper, a monthly Spanish publication distributed free throughout the county. She currently acts as reporter, sales executive and publisher of the monthly newspaper. In addition, she delivers the papers to many towns around the county with a little help from her friends.
Born in Monterey, Mexico, Reynolds came to settle in the United States in the early 1990s. She made her home in Freehold Township in 1998.
Although Reynolds is a hair stylist and cosmetologist by trade, she didn’t come by this notoriety in the town by changing the physical appearance of residents, but rather by helping to make a difference in the emotional, spiritual as well as physical lives of her countrymen and women.
Her face and her name are easily recognized now by many as the "woman who works with the Spanish people."
Known as friend and advocate for members of her community, she has also taken on the role of mentor, teacher, counselor, even "mother." Add in occupations like public relations worker, real estate agent and paralegal, and you have the sweet yet sassy mix that make up the persona of this tireless helper, who is well-respected and beloved by many. Others, however, disagree with her efforts to help anyone who is in the United States illegally.
Although she holds no formal degree in either social work or psychology, it would be difficult to find another who exhibits her degree of kindness and compassion to anyone in need. Although she has not had any formal training in researching resources, she has managed to access her own inner resources that allow her to direct those who come to her for assistance.
The publisher puts her heart and soul into her volunteer work, and although she projects the image of a kind and gentle soul, there is an inner strength that comes through when any member of her community is threatened, hurt or in any kind of trouble. She’s tiny but tough, and like any other "mother," she will go to the extreme to protect those entrusted to her care.
Reynolds said she "sees every single member of her community as one of her children."
"I treat every single person that I come across like I would want people to treat Carlos and Fatima," Reynolds said, referring to her 22-year-old son and 17-year-old daughter.
Reynolds started out volunteering her time a few days a week at St. Rose of Lima Church to help out Father Miguel, the parish priest at the time. She’d just moved into the town and decided to take a break from her business and instead give some of her time to helping others, something she said she always loved to do.
"There was so much need in this community for volunteers," she explained.
She started out answering phones at the church and acted more or less as a secretary. When she saw how much the community needed help, her part-time volunteer work turned into a full-time position. Reynolds said she always loved her work in the beauty industry because she felt she made a difference in people’s lives.
"People would come and sit down in my chair and they would say, ‘Please do something for me,’ " Reynolds said. "When they left happy, I felt like I was helping to transform them."
Reynolds is still transforming people these days but in other ways. People are still coming to her for help. "They come because they don’t know how to do this or that, or they don’t know where to go. They come for many reasons," she said.
This volunteer takes each request for help to heart and acts on all of them, helping to transform wounded spirits by her compassionate and loving manner."When I started doing all this volunteer work, I realized that I had been doing what I was searching for all along. I was just in the wrong field," she said.
Making a difference in people’s lives is the hallmark of her work. She said it’s not just the satisfaction of doing something for someone, it’s the "contentment I feel when I look into their eyes and they say ‘thank you’ from their hearts."
By the time Father George Berrios arrived at St. Rose soon after Father Miguel left, Reynolds found herself becoming even more involved with the Hispanic community. She began helping with a newsletter that Berrios proposed. The newsletter turned into the Nosotros newspaper, its premier issue published in May 2002, and the rest, as they say, "is history."
What began as an idea in Berrios’ mind as a way to help his people to learn valuable information about living in the United States has now blossomed into a circulation of over 15,000 readers. Noso-tros became a reality, and established a way to help Hispanic residents acclimate to life in the United States, specifically Freehold Borough.
The monthly publication originally targeted the borough, but now reaches three counties and serves people in Englishtown, Asbury Park, Beachwood, Neptune, Long Branch, Lakewood, Keyport, Jackson and Hightstown.
The paper was originally published under the auspices of St. Rose three times before Berrios was transferred to Long Branch.
Wanting to keep the paper alive, Reynolds and her then-assistant, Paola Quintero, absorbed the task of running the newspaper on their own. With some start-up money from the church, they were able to secure an office to work from, although much of the real work is done by e-mail at home. The hours spent at the Broad Street office are often filled with visitors and residents who need help, who need a connection to home or need information about life in this country. There is seldom time to sit down and focus on the work for the newspaper.
The paper celebrated its first anniversary in May and is still going strong. The paper is reaching the region’s Hispanic population in ways that English language newspapers and public notices have heretofore been unable to do. Reynolds said she owes a debt of gratitude to St. Rose of Lima Church for allowing her to have the opportunity to work with the community.
Quintero had to go back home to Colombia in June. Now Reynolds is writing, editing, publishing and selling ads for the paper by herself. Although she has daily volunteers who answer the phones and direct visitors to necessary information if they are able, everyone eventually will see Reynolds.
Her volunteer efforts extend way beyond the borders of her office. She’s there when her community rallies at events she’s planned, like an annual Halloween party for the children or a dance she runs for the young people in town. But she’s also there when the bad things happen as well. She’s attended funerals of members of her community and extended help and counseling services whenever needed. If conflict is on the horizon, Reynolds can usually be found trying to mediate the situation so that all parties involved are recognized.
Reynolds seemed to arrive here on a mission, although she said she didn’t realize it initially. People in the borough seem to realize her importance to the community, although she insists on downplaying her significance to the fabric of the borough community.
Borough of-ficials seem to realize her importance. Reynolds has been asked to sit on the Human Relations Committee and has just been appointed to the board of directors of the Freehold Center Partnership. She also supervised the Junior Hispanic Optimist club, along with Sheryl Mott. She’s been asked to attend meetings with town officials when issues concerning Hispanic residents have surfaced. She can also be seen fairly regularly at the borough Police Department. Whether it be for translating or helping an officer assist a Hispanic resident, Reynolds is usually on the phone list of people to contact for a variety of reasons.
What makes this woman so unique is not merely what she does for others. It’s more about how she goes about it and about how people feel after they have been with her. In addition to being so integral in helping the Hispanic community to function better in this town, she has touched the hearts of many longtime residents as well, securing funds, donations of all kinds of things. She has a phone pad full of people who have offered their services as well.
Reynolds also helps Dr. Fred DePekary at Central Dental Care in Freehold one day per week. The dentist clears his slate and opens his doors to members of the Hispanic community every Friday. Reynolds arranges the appointments for residents and works with him all day.
New people arriving to the community will come to her for any number of reasons, a place to live, a job, food, how to learn English. She recently started an English as a Second Language class for residents in the community. Her office is packed with at least 40 day laborers trying to learn the language of the country they came to live in. She’s up at the crack of dawn and goes until way after dark because there always seems to be "just one more thing to do."
According to Freehold Police Chief Michael Beierschmitt, Reynolds is a very "good-hearted person." The chief, who has attended many events sponsored by Reynolds for her community, said that Reynolds "sees the problems of her countrymen and women but also understands the concerns of longtime borough residents and tries to balance the needs of her people with the needs of those already here."
Beierschmitt said Reynolds works very well with Patrolman Craig Dispense, the town’s community relations officer, as well as with Sgt. Andrew DeMuth, who also works with members of the Hispanic community.
"She treats everyone with respect," Beierschmitt said.
He added that in his opinion Reynolds was a great help in helping members of the Hispanic community integrate into the town.
Dispenza spends a great deal of time going in and out of Reynolds’ office.
"To see how involved Cecilia is in the local Latino community," Dispenza said, "all you have to do is visit her office for a half-hour or so. During that time you would see a constant flow of Latinos seeking her assistance: day laborers looking for help because they have not been paid, families having problems with landlords, homeless people and others with a variety of problems.
"Even though she holds no official title and her office receives no grant money, no one is turned away. If her office cannot address a problem, she acts as liaison to other agencies to find the solution," he added. "She is passionate about helping the Latino community in our area, and is tireless in her efforts to assist them."
Sgt. DeMuth also finds himself working with Reynolds on a regular basis as well.
"Cecilia works 60 hours a week for no pay to help the poor," DeMuth said. "When resources have dried up, I’ve seen her use her own money to help people when necessary. Her energy inspires those she meets to want to do more. She has tried to be a voice for a voiceless people and has no motives but to help children and families.
"In her dealings with our Police Department, she has learned from us and we have learned from her. We have been able to serve better and reach a wider range of citizens because of Cecilia’s help," he added.