This is a picture from 2009 when Noel Casiano (farthest to the right) won a REACH Neighborhood Service Award. He was recognized for his exemplary work as a DCF Adolescent Social Worker. In the award program from that year, Noels’ supervisor called him, “one of the best social workers I have ever encountered in my life.” She mentioned how Noel went particularly above and beyond for a young man from El Salvador. She also described how Noel turned around the life of his half brother Bobby Noel for whom he took on the role of foster father. If that’s not enough, on top of a 40 hour work week and 20 hour internship, Noel managed to form a flag football team for the DCF kids he worked with, coach his son’s baseball team, coach basketball, and serve as a youth leader and clinical director of counseling at his church.  His motive was straightforward.  “I love this community,” he said. “But I also know what kids have to go through. Anything I can do to help them stay out of trouble I view as a positive.”

So where is he now? Following the award, Noel was promoted to supervisor at DCF. Noel then obtained his Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from California Southern University and quickly became a professor at CCSU teaching Marriage and Family therapy. He then worked as the Executive Director at Youth Challenge before becoming the Clinical Director at the Institute for Hispanic Families at Catholic Charities. Presently he is an Assistant Professor of Psychology and Human Services at the University of Hartford. He is developing the curriculum for the Human Services degree the University is building out. He will be teaching a class on Urban Trauma and Resilience in the Fall 2021 Semester, where he will use his experiences and expertise to train students how to truly support a community. 

As for Noel’s foster brother, he is now known as Dr. Bobby Noel Casiano. Bobby Noel went on to get his Master of Social Work from NYU and his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania. As for Noel’s son, the coaching must have paid off. His son was recruited to Kingswood Oxford after scoring 1,000 points at Rocky Hill High School.  His son then went on to score another 1,000 points in his junior and senior seasons at Kingswood Oxford (picture below). He is now a junior at ECSU and plays on their basketball team. As for the young man from El Salvador – Noel saw him graduate from high school and helped him realize his dream of getting citizenship. The not so young man stays in touch with Noel to this day. He is just one of many people Noel maintains connection with, just one of many whose life has been touched.

The crazy thing is none of this might have happened if it wasn’t for Noel‘s high school principal Amado Cruz. Noel had just left a devastating meeting with his high school counselor who had told him that he “was not college material.” Principal Cruz noticed Noel was looking down and asked, “what happened to you?” Noel explained.  From that point forward Noel checked in with principal Cruz every morning. Noel was connected with mentors through a program called Career Beginnings which helped him make his transition to CCSU. 

This experience solidified Noel‘s belief that in order for people to thrive, they need positive human connections. It is through these relationships that individuals can navigate incredible hardships and find resilience. This understanding drives Noel. “I recognize my own struggles,” he said, reflecting on the childhood trauma he experienced growing up without a father on Park Street. He struggled internally with those experiences which kept him from performing his best at school. This is why his high school counselor was not impressed by his academic records. But something she didn’t know, which Noel learned, is that beyond struggle there are opportunities and with the right support people can thrive. That support comes in the form of positive human connections. It is that simple. But it needs to happen. “The only way to do the work is to do the work,” Noel said. ” It is easy to talk about the problems, complain, and judge, but what are you doing about it? We have to leave the world better than what we experienced ourselves for the kids who come after us. We all have to do our piece.”