Guyana native. U.S. postal worker. Atlanta, Ga., realtor. Chef. Today, manager of a BCArc residential program. Call him Carlton Gump.
“Home is everywhere, the Berkshires is where I rest my head,” said Carlton Deen Sr. about his ongoing adventures. He travels at least twice a month to Queens or Brooklyn to see family and friends. “But I really go for the food. I like to eat, and I travel for good food.”
He is self-appointed head chef at the BCArc home he manages in Richmond. “I give everyone the opportunity to make food at the house, but basically, if I’m working, I’m cooking for the guys,” he said. “Some of the individuals also like to cook, so we’ll work together in the kitchen. But I like good, healthy, traditional West Indian food. If I like it, then I know the guys will like it. Cause I know what they eat.”
His guys are four individuals with intellectual disabilities. “Hanging out with them is no different than hanging out with anyone. We are a big family. We watch sports. We trash talk. We go fishing. We pick on each other, go out to restaurants, get our flirt on, I just see each of them as one of the guys.”
Leaving BCArc for Post Office, then Returning
Carlton recently left BCArc to deliver mail for the U.S. Postal Service. He had done this before, in Atlanta, Ga., but that didn’t last long. This time was not much different.
“When I left for the Postal Service, I thought I let people down at BCArc,” he said. “But on my mail route I saw everyone, even Ken. Everyone was real supportive and friendly. I knew pretty quickly that I had made a mistake leaving BCArc,” he said, smiling.
He has worked at two other human service agencies in the Berkshires, and called BCArc the best by far, crediting his full-time and relief staff for their support and commitment. “They always come through for the program. And the guys who live in the house will always have a special place in my heart. They’re energetic, independent, they want to enjoy life like all of us.”
Carlton moved to the Berkshires from Brooklyn before his son was born 13 years ago, to find an easier place to raise him and his daughter, now 21. He at age 7 from Guyana. Now settled in the Berkshires after several jobs with other agencies, he says, “I can relax here, focus on my kids, my work, and my food.”
