Remind people they matter no matter what. Now I have the opportunity to make a living, share my experience and love people. I have done outreach I feel for my entire life but it was just called looking for my dad. My father was homeless in this city throughout my life and I want to make sure others going through that know they are loved and cared for. I choose this work because substance use and mental health has been a part of my entire life. Public service means we serve the public not just the people who make us look good or people who may have a higher station in life. Q: What does public service mean to you, why do you choose this work?Ī: Public service means to be open-minded, to make sure no one is excluded from services and the community. Now I get to come full circle back to the city I grew up in and to support my people. I am proud of this city for creating this role and other programs that help take responsibility for their residents and attempt to give everyone a better quality of life.Ī: I have been doing this work for a long time in Revere and other communities. People have a right to be here and a right to be part of this community. I want this city to be a place that everyone is welcome to live regardless of what they are going through. I reconnect people to care, the opposite of addiction is connection and that is my main role, to connect people.Ī: This is my hometown, I was born and raised here. Basically, I am the person they meet, connect with and I work to get their basic needs met and to support people who may have no support from anyone else. I also work in the city following up with individuals who have had a substance use related medical call, most often an overdose but it can be a range of issues. Sometimes I work with first responders to meet someone who is need of mental health or housing services. Yesterday I spent the entire day with four different people bringing them to and sitting with them during their medical appointments. I go out and see folks in the street, some people I already know some people I don't, and I go introduce myself and explain what I do. I meet them where they are at, not just physically where they are at but in every sense of where they are at. Many people I meet with are struggling with mental health, at risk of losing housing and a variety of other difficult situations. Q: What do you do and what is your day like?Ī: I do outreach in the City of Revere to some of our most vulnerable residents. A lifelong Revere resident, Chris Alba loves giving back to his community and makes him a clear choice for Public Servant of the Month. With May being Mental Health Awareness Month, there was no better option for Public Servant of the Month than someone who everyday helps those facing mental health challenges. Every day, Chris works with those facing substance use disorders and homelessness. Chris works in the City of Revere’s Substance Use Disorder and Homelessness Initiatives Office (SUDHI) doing outwork with our most vulnerable residents. REVERE, MA – Today Mayor Brian Arrigo announced Christian (Chris) Alba as May 2022’s Public Servant of the Month. Chris Alba is May’s Public Servant of the Month
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