Daniel Diaz—Substance Abuse Counselor, Community Mental Health Services

A Counselor Who Is “Like Family”

“Danny exemplifies the meaning of initiative and teamwork on a daily basis. He brings more to the role than just his specialty—he has a genuine love for what he does. Danny has given his own clothing to clients who are without and is always willing to assist clients who are not on his caseload with the sole intention of helping to make their lives better in some way. He never hesitates to assist others with their work as well, which is what makes his performance that much more exceptional and that much more appreciated.”

Like many VNSNY employees, Daniel Diaz, a substance abuse counselor with the Bronx Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) program for the past five years, has a mission to serve the community. In Daniel’s case, however, he’s literally serving the community that raised him: he grew up in a housing project just a few blocks from his workplace, and still lives close by. As part of a 12-person team that treats an ever-changing group of 60-plus patients, all referred to the team from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene following hospitalizations, Daniel does “harm-reduction” counseling—visiting clients in their homes to try and get them to adhere with their psychiatric and medical medications, and stop or cut down on their use of street drugs. Many of his clients use marijuana or the synthetic version, K2, which is laced with often deadly chemicals. Few of them acknowledge they have a drug problem, notes Daniel, which can cause many service providers to give up trying to help them. But Daniel is tenacious: “Even though I know they may never stop using, I never give up,” he says. “To achieve these goals, we need to be consistent and persistent.”

It’s frustrating, and Daniel admits that sometimes he asks himself, “What is my purpose here?” Recently, he got his answer: Leaving one client’s home, he said he’d be back to check on her. She replied, “You know you’re welcome here any time. You guys are family.” That’s when it hit him. “I realized many of these people don’t have any family or support except for us. And I just started crying. It’s such an awesome feeling—I’m so honored to work with VNSNY in this capacity, because we provide such an important service to people of New York.”