Helping others is a real kick for United Way 2-1-1 specialist

Martial arts enthusiast David Rivera enjoys his work with the United Way

By DONNA BIRCH
dbirch@modbee.com

last updated: August 25, 2008 09:42:17 AM

When he was in high school, David Rivera of Modesto thought about becoming an electrical engineer. But after taking a career assessment test, the results revealed another path for him: human services.

The career counselor said Rivera was a good listener and all signs pointed in direction to help people.

After graduating from Patterson High School in 1992, Rivera attended Modesto Junior College, where he earned his associate arts degree in human services. He eventually made his way to the United Way of Stanislaus County.

Rivera is one of the agency's 211 call center specialists. He links people looking for assistance with social, legal or health-related services and does presentations on the Healthy Families program, which provides affordable health insurance for children whose families who earn too much to qualify for Medi-Cal.

Rivera, a Patterson native, is married to wife Teresa. The couple has three children: Alex and Ramiro, both 16, and Isabella, 5. When he's not working or spending time with his family, he attends New Harvest Valley Christian Fellowship Church in Modesto, enjoys martial arts and listening to music, especially Tex-Mex and old-school crooners such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Dean Martin.

"That era of music just sounds good," the 38-year-old said. "I'll listen to whatever sounds good to me."

Question: You've been a 211 specialist since the United Way's call center opened in December 2007. What did you do before that?

Answer: In October 2005, I was an information and referral specialist. I helped people link people with services that were out there, such as rental and utility assistance. Then the call center opened. I do the same thing for that program.

Q: Describe your duties and responsibilities as a specialist.

A: I provide information and referrals to phone-in clients, whether it's educational, legal or medical information. I also attend resource fairs and collect information on other social services agencies. If there's an agency out there that can help them and it's in our database, we can refer them.

Q: What kinds of help have people been asking about recently?

A: Due to the economy, we're getting a lot of calls asking about rental and mortgage assistance programs. Unfortunately, there are no local mortgage assistance programs out there. So I'd say calls about mortgage, rental and utility assistance are top right now with food assistance being the fourth most-requested services. I've seen the trickle down effect of the economy and high prices. Our calls have definitely gone up.

Q: How many calls do you handle a day?

A: It depends on the time of month. At the end of the month, the average is 20 or more per day. The number of calls drops at the beginning of the month because people have gotten their assistance checks, such as Social Security.

Q: What is the most challenging thing about your job?

A: The fact there is more demand but less of a supply for services. There are too many people in need and not enough agencies to meet that need.

Q: Do you ever get to meet clients you've helped in person?

A: We do get walk-in clients occasionally. Most of the clients I meet in person is when I do enrollment for Healthy Families insurance. I help clients fill out applications for the program. When I do presentations I tell people that I'm from Patterson and that I lived there when the population was less than 10,000 people and the city had a hospital. I've lived in the valley all my life and I've seen the changes it's gone through.

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