Tony Phillips, Social Services Director
Coming to Ridgefield nine years ago from a similar job in New Canaan, Tony has seen changes in our town. Tony has seen our town change from one that mainly focused on the needs of senior citizens to one where the town provides services for the entire family no matter what the problem.
As part of Tony’s job, he must be able to access each new situation that is presented to him, find possible resources, be able to write grants, work with the other agencies in town, fund raise, and communicate with the public. He needs people to know that his door is always open and when they leave, some sort of solution is in the works. When residents from other towns approach him, Tony does not turn them away, but helps them to make connections in their own town.
As economic stability is not easy to come by in a town like Ridgefield, Tony and his assistant, Karen, want to make certain that none of our residents are “falling through the cracks” and not getting the resources that they need to survive. Finding the money to help residents pay rent, buy food, pay bills, receive medical help, and still have a decent quality of life is the goal of the social services department in town.
According to Tony, if a resident is paying more than thirty percent of their income for housing each week, they are going to be in trouble and alternatives need to be explored. If residents are having trouble buying food, a food pantry and a mobile food truck are available to help. If a resident is having trouble paying bills, especially medical bills, there are volunteers available to help with processing the proper forms and making phone calls.
One of Ridgefield’s biggest assets is the ability of people in town to donate both time and money to help others. Tony says that he can put out a request for almost any type of help and immediately there will be people responding to this request. He has at least twenty totally devoted volunteers throughout the year and others that come on board for special occasions.
Tony can also not say enough about the various groups in town that support social services in a variety of ways. Some of these organizations are the service organizations, the Boys and Girls Club, the Men’s and Women’s Clubs, the churches, the Thrift Shop, the athletic organizations the Chamber of Commerce, the Garden Clubs, Lounsbury House, Tiger Hollow, INC, etc. Individual family donors also help on a regular basis to keep funds available for those in need.
Ridgefield is fortunate to have some reduced income housing at Ballard Green, on Prospect Ridge and at the Ridgefield Apartments. However, other housing developments may also have a few units available for people who qualify. According to Tony, Redding has no lower income housing and Wilton has much less housing available than we do.
A great deal of Tony and Karen’s work has to do with keeping the food pantry at the town hall stocked and organized. The pantry is located on the upper level of the Ridgefield Town Hall, but during the pandemic it was closed, and gift cards were given to people to buy food. Ridgefield residents also sent in emergency funding checks to the town hall during the pandemic to cover the cost of the gift cards. Restaurants like Dimitris and Wooster Hollow also helped by providing meals for families. Any family who qualified for free or reduced meals was provided with food in one way or another.
Tony would like people to know that there are many variables to the food pantry. There is also a mobile food truck that visits various areas on a monthly basis. Then there are vouchers given by various gardening organization in town like Sun Gardens, Penny Farms, and Victoria’s Gardens, to qualifying residents. In addition to this we have families that shop for other families and put so much money regularly toward payment of the bill.
Many of the businesses in town will also give special discounts on certain repair services for people who are having trouble paying bills. Rides for Ridgefield, Meals on Wheels, RVNA, Compassionate Ridgefield, Laundry Love in Danbury, restaurants, and other groups in town also regularly open their hearts and wallets to offer services critical for a descent standard of living.
Tony credits Rudy’s Ridgefield’s Response to the Pandemic for helping so many who were having trouble filing for or getting their unemployment or stimulus checks. Rudy, Tony, and Karen want people in town to realize that they are not alone in the toughest of times, there are always people at the town hall to help them.
Tony is a certified social worker, and he feels that his certification is important to his job. However, he also feels that to be successful he needs to be empathetic, a good listener, have strong networking skills, be able to meet any challenge, and realize that each day new situations will come through the door. Tony makes the analogy that each day he comes to work he puts together a new puzzle, putting the right pieces in the correct place.
In the past, Tony remembers the food panty focusing on Campbell soups, a staple for senior citizens, but now the shelves have gone more to a Progresso line with food that is better liked by entire families. Ridgefield may be thought of as an affluent community and it is, however, there are those in town that need assistance and the social services department at the Ridgefield Town Hall is where they find compassion, support and the necessary resources for survival.