MILLERTON — Sympathy and understanding come from having been there yourself — in this case as one of a family of six sleeping huddled around a kerosene heater because there was no money for electricity nor oil for heat. That was where Christine Sergent, the newly appointed director of the North East Community Center (NECC), spent a portion of her early years and why she now says, “This is where I was meant to be.” 

Opening up about the path that led to serve the North East community where she had once lived and worked, she said, “I grew up in...