One morning in February, Wilma Cotto looked out the front window of her Norwich apartment to see a stranger at her door, holding a newspaper.

"I'm not a stalker," the woman assured her.

The woman went on to explain that after reading a story about Cotto and her children in The Day, she was compelled to find Cotto because she, too, had once been at the program for domestic violence victims referred to in the story. Cotto had credited the Thames River Family Program with helping her move out of a homeless shelter and ultimately establish her independence and a stable home for her sons, ages 6, 8 and 9.

"Then she gave me a $100 gift card to Walmart and a $100 gift card to Shop Rite," Cotto recalled Friday.

That encounter was just the first of many outpourings of generosity Cotto has received since the Feb. 5 article that told her story of struggling to feed and house her family on a budget of food stamps, child support payments and a fluctuating paycheck from her per-diem job as a home health aide.

Several people brought grocery store gift cards to her boys' school, and others pulled up behind her car while she was picking up her boys to unload boxes of groceries from their pickup truck into Cotto's trunk. The Niantic Rotary Club invited her to speak, as did her church, Iglesia Las Buenas Nuevas. To her surprise, as she stood at the front of the sanctuary to begin, she was handed a bouquet of flowers and announced as the "woman of the month."

"They said it was because I've been a warrior, that even though I've been through a lot, I keep on going," Cotto said.

She is now working with other church volunteers on a collection of household and baby supplies for homeless shelters in Norwich and New London, posting a flier listing the items needed on community bulletin boards and sharing it with everyone she can. She's also helping to care for a sick friend at the Thames River program and supporting another close friend who's a domestic violence victim.

"I was helped when I needed it, so I feel that even if you don't have much, you have to do what you can," she said.

On Friday, between sessions with the elderly and handicapped people she cares for at work, Cotto stopped by the offices of the United Way of Southeastern Connecticut in Gales Ferry to update staff there about what's happened over the last two months. She also came to receive a dozen more gift cards, boxes of food and household supplies and letters of support that have come to the United Way for her. And to thank everyone publicly.

"I'm very grateful," she said.

Staff of the agency, which funds homeless shelters, the Thames River program and dozens of other programs that provide the social services safety net for southeastern Connecticut, also wanted to thank Cotto for telling her story. A personal story about one of the many people helped by the funds donated to the United Way helps connect the program with the larger community, they said.

"There are 24 more Wilmas at the Thames River program and probably another 50 Wilmas at the women's center in New London," said Laura Giannelli, marketing and communications director at the United Way. "We see her as the reason we fundraise."

"We are so proud of Wilma, we want to clone her," said Kathy Allen, director of services and operations at the Thames River program.

Car repair bills mount

For Cotto, the donations came at the right time. Because her income increased over part of this winter as she was given more hours at work, she became ineligible for food stamps shortly after the story was published. Several large car-repair bills came along at the same time, on a 2007 Hyundai Accent she had just purchased from a Waterford dealer with her income tax refund check as the down payment. It replaced an older car that had to be junked. Fortunately, she had the grocery store gift cards to help keep her pantry shelves filled while the car bills accumulated.

In the last few weeks her income has dropped again as some of her home health clients no longer need her services. "I'll reapply for food stamps," she said.

In the meantime, Cotto can draw on the newly replenished supply of gift cards and groceries sent to the United Way. Among the many items were boxes of Cheerios and a 25-pound bag of rice, three large bottles of laundry detergent "because boys get dirty," the donor said, and a supply of popcorn with an offer to buy Cotto a microwave if she didn't have one.

There were Devil Dogs and a bag of Keebler's Rainbow Chip Deluxe cookies, with a note that said the treats were to be given to the boys sparingly. A note of concern that the family wasn't getting enough fruits and vegetables accompanied another donation.

Still another gift card came with a note from a nurse at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital in New London who said she grew up with an alcoholic father who abused her mother. While her mother didn't have the courage to leave, the nurse said, she admired Cotto and wanted to offer her encouragement.

"Instill manners in your boys and teach them to respect women," the nurse wrote, adding that her own children are grown. "Expect them to play hard and work hard in school, and go to trade school or college."

"Wow," Cotto said, pausing over the letter she had just read aloud. "This is very, very nice. I'll write her a letter back."

Reunion with sister

Her employer, Cotto said, has been understanding of her car troubles and of issues with her boys that have caused her to miss work some days and have allowed her to make some adjustments in her schedule.

"They're buying Easter baskets for my kids," she said.

Telling her story publicly, Cotto said, has raised her self-confidence and made her feel stronger. It has even has helped rekindle a relationship that had faltered when she was being abused and ashamed to admit it, she said.

"My sister I hadn't seen for two years came to my door with my nephew, who I used to take care of when he was little," Cotto said. "She brought some groceries. It was awesome. She didn't know what I'd been through."

Dina Graves-Sears, vice president of community investment at the United Way, said she hopes people moved by Cotto's story see her as an inspiration to give to the agency as a means of supporting the programs that helped her and many others with their own compelling stories of hardship, struggles and successes.

"Her story is actually a long-term outcome you're seeing, of your money being invested very wisely," she said. "There's a Wilma at every one of the agencies we support. People are turning their lives around."

j.benson@theday.com

Where to go

For information on the United Way of Southeastern Connecticut and the programs it supports, visit: www.uwsect.org.