Eddie Ithier (right) and Lou Catano have been mentoring children at Manchester’s Webster House, collectively, for more than three decades. (Photo: David Lazar)
Hooksett’s Eddie Ithier was a basketball player at Southern New Hampshire University, fresh out of high school in the Bronx, when a sponsor brought him and his teammates to a dinner at Manchester’s Webster House, the city’s long-venerated home for children in need.
“When I first heard about this place, I thought it would be a bunch of bad kids,” Ithier, 44, recalls. “People have misconceptions. What I ended up seeing were good kids; kids who were polite and trying to do well. A lot of them just hadn’t received the stability or direction they needed. You saw the energy and respect they had, and then you looked at the staff and could see this wasn’t just a job – it was their life.”
The experience stayed with Ithier, who in 1994 made Webster House his first visit as a young professional looking for volunteer opportunities. Fifteen years later, the center’s leadership affectionately refers to Ithier as “the volunteer that never left.” For more than a decade, Ithier, a sales manager for Xerox, would visit Webster House twice a week, acting as a Big Brother for kids who’d often never received an open ear, much less a helping hand. The connection was personal. “I grew up in a not-so-great neighborhood,” Ithier says. “I had a number of friends who didn’t make it out. I was fortunate, however, to have some great parents. I want these kids to know that they’re not alone in whatever they’re dealing with; that there is a way out. I want them to come away appreciating the people who are here to help them and to hopefully appreciate themselves.”
Webster House in 2009 marked 125 years of service assisting children, 8-18, through some of their most difficult times – from abuse and neglect to broken families and discipline issues. The goal has always been two-fold: to provide a caring, stable setting for kids to receive critical life skills, and to also learn to give back. The center houses roughly 18 students at a time, providing independent living courses, homework help and counseling sessions, as well as an active recreation and volunteer program. “We try to show them that there’s more to life than playing a video game,” center director Lou Catano says. “We also try to give them good shared memories.”
Those memories are mutual, says Ithier, now a board member for the nonprofit and a father of two young daughters. “If one of these kids has a better life because of their time here, it’s a great thing,” he says. For more information, visit www.websterhouse.org.
