God’s Workers: PSC Honors Key Staff and Community Leaders

“I feel happy and grateful to win the housekeeper of the year award because that recognition makes me stronger. It gives me courage to keep working,” said Berky Capellan, who was honored for her housekeeping efforts at Friday night’s PSC Community Services, Inc.’s 30th annual banquet at the Polonaise Terrace.

Every year PSC, a Polish-American home care association, throws a banquet to recognize outstanding workers, community leaders and public officials. This year, PSC President and new CB1 Chair Christopher Olechowski honored home attendants Maria Mejia and Barbara Bawol and housekeeper Capellan. The women received flowers, $100, award plaques and certificates of merit from Assemblyman Vito Lopez, Senator Dilan and Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez.

Councilwoman Diana Reyna, whose mother worked as a home attendant for many years, said she is grateful to be able to commend these women, and other PSC board members, workers and volunteers in the room, for their efforts. For Reyna, honoring them was like honoring her own mom.

“It’s not easy to care for someone else and treat them like family,” said Reyna. “It’s important that we can count on individuals like home attendants to sacrifice their own for us.”

After the three women were honored, Reyna and Olechowski recognized Polish-American WWII veteran Eugene Witt for 30 years of volunteer service with PSC. Witt said he enjoyed watching the neighborhood change over the years and is happy to have met many people from post-war Poland. He said he would stay active, despite retirement. Now that he has some time on his hands, 87-year-old Witt plans to begin work on his memoirs.

Olechowski, who has worked at PSC for 17 years, is proud of his multi-ethnic, diverse staff serving the handicapped individuals.

“It’s great to see we built a little institution here,” said Olechowski. “[We proved] it can be done with perseverance and determination and good will.”

Lastly, Reyna and Olechowski presented CB1 District Manager Gerry Esposito, who has been elected to PSC’s Board of Directors in June 2006, with the award for commendable community service and outstanding civil leadership. Reyna cited Esposito’s humbleness, and called him a model of loyalty, trustworthiness, trueness, a man who always stands up for what he believe in and gives a helping hand to those in need.

Esposito accepted his award with the speech about a man who inspired him, Revered Longin Tolczyc, the main founder of the Polish and Slavic Credit Union, an organization that helped new immigrants who were turned away by banks get loans to buy homes in Greenpoint.

PSC President Francis X. Gates praised all the honorees, especially those who “make life worth living for the elderly people.”

“The work they do God’s work,” said Gates. “Life isn’t worth living for the elderly if there is no one to care for them.”