Connie was born in a small Italian community in upstate New York where she grew up surrounded by many aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers and sisters. Upon graduation from high school, she decided to venture off and went to college in New Hampshire where she earned her degree in education. Most importantly, she met my husband Dan, and they celebrated their 48th wedding anniversary this summer. Dan is a native of Sanford so they moved to Maine to start a family, which has grown to 3 children and their spouses, and 6 beautiful grandchildren.

Connie started her career as a high school teacher, where she taught for 10 years before becoming an at-home mom when they started their business, Roux’s Kitchen and Bath.

When she returned to the work force, Connie started at Goodall Hospital in the Education Department. From there, she transferred to Partners for Healthier Communities and worked with drug and alcohol prevention. It was at this time that she found a passion for this work and worked with many sectors of our community and made some very strong connections.

Her work included making changes in our environment that would prevent youth from using drugs/alcohol. As this was a community approach, she worked with law enforcement, schools, parents, youth, businesses, faith based organizations, etc. This is when the coalition was formed and from there many programs were started that gave youth opportunities to have positive alternatives. We also addressed policy change and provided information to community on drug and alcohol use and how important prevention was.

Even though she has retired, many of the programs and work she helped start continue today. Connie is very proud to have been part of this ground breaking work. Being a member of the Strategies for Stronger Sanford board is like coming full circle, still involved in this great work. It is very satisfying to see how the programs have sustained and grown and that this important work continues.