Olive Hauser: Retiring as Darien Social Services Director, Helped Build Nonprofits in Town

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Olive Hauser Director of Human Services

Olive Hauser, retiring in April as Darien Director of Human Services, in her office

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Olive Hauser, Darien’s social services director, retiring on April 3 after 26 years with the town, hasn’t just administered a town department — she’s also been a volunteer with and board member for a number of social service nonprofit groups in town. 

She’s been the chair of the Darien Unit of the Salvation Army (she started the kettle donation program in town), on the board of the United Way of Darien (now the Community Fund of Darien), the Andrew Shaw Boy Scout Cabin, the advisory board of Person-to-Person and was the first chair of the advisory committee of Aging In Place, which became At Home in Darien (now she sits on the governing board).

Olive Hauser Director of Human Services

Olive Hauser, retiring in April as Darien Director of Human Services, in her office

One of the things Hauser says she wants to do in retirement is continue working with Aging In Place.

Visiting Hauser’s office last week, a reporter almost tripped over one of the metal Salvation Army collection buckets she was storing there. Hauser recruits volunteers to ring the bells in front of stores in town each Christmas season.

Of the money collected in Darien, 90 percent stays in the town to help local residents with food, clothing, shelter and heat — a total of $5,099 was collected this past season. The Salvation Army also sends the town money from contributors who come from Darien — another $4,000.

“Wherever we’ve had an opportunity, we expanded into state programs,” Hauser said. With Operation Fuel, for instance, she got the state to give the money to her department to administer local assistance, rather than have it continue to go to an agency in Norwalk, which distributed it in both communities.

“The way to help people is to get them what they need as close as possible,” she said. Hauser and other Darien social workers speak with clients and got to understand various needs that they had, sometimes helping the client apply for assistance elsewhere and, when possible, providing what assistance the town could give directly. When Darien social workers could get assistance from Operation Fuel directly, it made the process easier.

Not all the people in town get help from the Social Services Department are poor, Hauser said. “We have many people who come in that don’t need programs, but need the support They need to understand what comes next with an elderly parent, with a child or themselves — maybe they’ve gone through a divorce and are a single parent.

Hauser’s department isn’t a big one — she has an assistant director and two part-time program assistants, and the department shares a clerical assistant with the town Health Department.

Hauser grew up in Fairfield and got degrees in psychology and elementary education, then started working with the Connecticut Department of Developmental Disabilities (now the Department of Developmental Services). She was there for 13 years, eight of which she served as a regional director of residential programs, responsible for group homes in Meriden and New Haven.

When she married her late husband, Harry Burke, she moved to Darien and wanted a job closer to home, so she took a job with the second and last employer in her social services career — the Darien Human Services Department, first as assistant director in 1990 and, since 2008, as director.

Hauser has lived and worked in Darien for about 26 years, raising her son, Ben, here, and gotten involved in various nonprofit activities that h

What attracted her to human services? “It’s being helpful to people,” she said. “That is one of the things I enjoy most — being useful.”

Hauser’s advice for anyone thinking about starting a career as a social worker:

“I would say, get some experience. Volunteer. Find out if you really want to be here. It takes wanting. As with any job, you have to enjoy it, and you have to have a certain skill set.”

Her advice to whoever will be the next Darien Human Services Director: 

“Look for new things: whether it’s technology or programs. I hope that someone who takes my place has some new ideas and works on building what I’ve been able to establish here. Be aware of what’s going on at the state and federal government level — and on the local level.”

 

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