Fort Worth woman overcame pandemic, addiction to help others before her death

Chantelle Menton was on the right track.

She had finally kicked her addiction to methadone, she had developed a strong connection with her faith, she was in the middle of raising four children, and she loved her job at the Fort Worth Hope Center, her husband Shaun Menton said.

But Chantelle Menton, 36, died on June 16 from a wound that got infected by a flesh-eating disease called “necrotizing fasciitis” — just as things were falling into place.

“She had so many positive things going on in her life,” said Brittany Hughes, financial administrator at the Hope Center, a faith-based food pantry and training center in Fort Worth.

“And she never stopped fighting to get her family out of the low-income area they’ve always lived in.”

Despite the challenges that life threw at her, like addiction and financial hardship, Chantelle Menton always helped her community.

“She took everything that was negative in her life and made that her testimony to help others,” said Donna Taylor, human resources director at the Hope Center. “She pulled people out of the same situations she used to be in.”

When the coronavirus pandemic struck Fort Worth, Taylor said that the workload at the Hope Center intensified dramatically for all of its employees.

Taylor said the number of clients increased by about 500% and that volunteers could no longer help out, which meant more work for full-time staff members like Chantelle Menton.

Shaun Menton, 47, nominated his wife of 20 years for recognition in the Star-Telegram’s Hometown Hero series because nothing ever stopped her from being “compassionate” toward others — not her struggles nor the pandemic.

Hometown Heroes is sponsored by Lockheed Martin, which is providing $1,000 each week over 28 weeks to those selected by the Star-Telegram to be featured in the series.

“She loved her job. It was faith-based,” Shaun Menton said. “How she would open herself up to people to understand their situation. She was judgmental of nobody.”

Before she died, Chantelle Menton worked as the registration supervisor at the Hope Center for about three years. Her responsibility was to enter and maintain data of people who signed up for services.

“We ran anywhere from 100 to 500 people a day when the virus came,” Taylor said. “And Chantelle would go outside and register all those people.”

Hughes said Chantelle Menton enjoyed everything she did even if the workload was much more during the pandemic.

“She was very dedicated to her job because she enjoyed helping the community,” she said.

Chantelle Menton always worked hard even when she had some of her own personal struggles, Hughes said.

“Even whenever she did not feel good or when her kids felt down, they would come into work with her. She probably never missed a day,” she said.

Chantelle Menton became addicted to methadone, a powerful pain relief medicine, shortly after her husband went to prison on a drug charge in 2009.

Shaun Menton said the stress of raising three girls and one boy on her own possibly caused her to abuse the prescribed methadone as a coping mechanism. He was released from prison in 2012.

After abusing pain relief pills for years, Chantelle Menton finally “got back on her feet” at the Hope Center while discovering a passion for her religion, Hughes said.

“She always wanted people to know that it’s never too late — that it’s never too late to seek Christ. She wanted people to see that in her,” Hughes said.

Dedicated is just one word that Hughes uses to describe Menton. She said that from the very beginning, she always felt a connection with Menton because of their experiences.

“She told me that she lost her father to an overdose. Growing up, I always knew that addiction was a struggle and that’s one reason why I think me and her hit it off right away,” she said.

Hughes said Chantelle Menton’s determination to “get right with Christ” is what helped her become sober.

“It’s just never too late to get right with Christ. The Hope Center was a big factor in giving her hope and a better life,” she said.

To nominate a hometown hero

To nominate someone to be featured in the Hometown Heroes series, go to star-telegram.com/nominate.

This story was originally published August 20, 2020 at 5:45 AM.