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Dilsa Capdeville: Guardian Angel

The first thing you notice about Dilsa Capdeville’s office are the angels. Ceramic and cloth figures, all outfitted with wings and halos, adorn her desk, bookshelves and cabinet tops. New angels arrive every week like clockwork. Their presence is fitting. Capdeville has spent her 40-plus-year professional career as a guardian angel for the territory’s physically and sexually abused children.

Growing up in a family of empowered women left an indelible mark on Capdeville’s life. Her grandmother insisted the family sit down together for a noon meal every Saturday, an occasion marked by china, linen and silver as well as the matriarch’s counsel, “to those who much is given, much is expected.” Likewise, Capdeville’s mother, who served as the first nurse anesthetist in the local hospital’s surgical ward for over 50 years, would silently seal money in white envelopes each payday and deliver them to persons in the community in need. It’s no wonder that at age 15, Capdeville was charged with finding a way to give back over her summer vacation. This led her to the Department of Social Welfare, where she worked as an intern. The experience led to her career, what she calls her calling, in social work since 1965.

Several firsts are credited to Capdeville. She was the first to initiate a task force that led to the territory’s initial child abuse legislation, the first to start a shelter for battered women, called the Women’s Resource Center and the first to open a child advocacy agency called Kidscope. This effort earned her the Department of Justice’s National Crime Victim Service Award, an honor that was presented to her in Washington, D.C. in 2001.

“I felt children were falling through the cracks and we needed a multi-disciplinary approach to help heal the families,” says Capdeville of Kidscope.

Today, Capdeville and her staff provide innovative, creative and unique services to abused children and their families. The root philosophy is based around the African concept of Sankofa, or bringing from the past what is good. The program emphasizes knowing where you have come from, where you are going, and using it in the present to create a positive influence.

“We have a grandmothers mentoring program, as well as a program for boys and girls,” says Capdeville. “We take the children out in the community to attend plays, to cultural events, to help them learn their history in order to provide them with a sense of self and cultural heritage.”

Capdeville also gives her young clients, especially those who are most scared and most vulnerable, one of the angels from her office’s collection. After all, she says, “they’re the ones who need them the most.”