Community Service Officers Deserve Better Living Conditions

To the editor: I see an announcement that community service officers are wanted. But are they? Are they if they are not cared for themselves?

I have heard recently the adage that Nantucket takes care of its own. That may have a dark side. Is there not a bitter irony in the fact that the town exposes its community service officers - there to serve the community - to disease-causing conditions in absolutely deplorable housing?

There is really no excuse, but perhaps there is an explanation.

Those of us who are “outsiders” and I would include myself among them know from experience that there is a community of families that have lived on the island for generations. They are clearly the insiders. There are also others who are also recognized as insiders who may not have the provenance but have been on the island full-time as residents for decades.

My mother, who as a voting resident, lived full-time on the island for 40 years, and contributed through volunteering and charitable donations, told me that she never felt accepted by the community. This was a warning in case I thought that I would be accepted.

However, when the time came, she chose to go to OIH for skilled nursing home care rather than the fancier Liberty Commons on the Cape. I am very happy that she did. My mother received excellent care from a compassionate and highly skilled staff.

The hard truth is that the community service officers were regarded as outsiders. That is the only reason that I can think of for why they were allowed to live in such squalid conditions for so many summers. Certainly, an effort has been made to remediate their living conditions but I seriously doubt if they had been recognized members of the Nantucket community they would be been treated so shabbily.

I believe at this point when all hands—insiders and outsiders alike—are needed on deck that soul searching is vital. No doubt the housing for the community service officers is the top of an iceberg. Many immigrant families may know similar conditions.

Unless the town can assure adequate, healthy and safe housing for the community service officers, no more should be hired. And then the summer community will see how much they are missed.

Maureen Searle