Our staff is very fortunate to include Jody Robbins, an accomplished cook, and her daughter Madison Bolia, a certified nurses’ assistant.
Jody comes to us from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, where she spent 5 years as a cook and assistant catering manager, cooking for 1,500 at a time. “Everything ran like clockwork,” she said. “When breakfast starts at 6:00 a.m., the doors open and you’d better be ready!”
Jody’s affinity for cooking was inspired by her parents and grandmother. “I liked to watch them in the kitchen, especially my grandmother,” she said. “She never measured anything, but everything she made was so good!”
Food was a true family affair for Jody and her five siblings, for whom the kitchen was the home’s epicenter. They gathered there weekly for Sunday dinner, which might feature her mother’s baked stuffed shrimp, or perhaps her sumptuous roast beef.
Jody’s dad was renowned for his amazing spaghetti sauce and baked stuffed quahogs. When he returned home with freshly dug quahogs, their shucking, cleaning and grinding was a real “team effort,” Jody said.
Maddie has inherited her mother’s love of cooking, and “she’s pretty good at it,” Jody said. Madison said her special dishes include, “chicken parmesan and anything homemade – like mac and cheese.”
In addition to cooking, Jody and Madison share another passion: shopping. “Madison is a great shopping partner!” Jody said. Madison also loves “going to the beach, driving [while] listening to my music, and hanging with my best friend.”
Madison’s career has changed her life for the better, she said. “I used to be very shy,” she said. “A health career got me out of my bubble, and helped me learn how to talk to people.”
Jody said she always enjoys coming to work at Decatur House, where there are “nice people and no stress.” “When I tell former coworkers about my job, I always have a big smile on my face,” she said, grinning. “And they always say, ‘I’m so jealous!”
