Staff Spotlight: David Spiller
We would like to introduce you to David Spiller, Inroads to Opportunities Vocational Counselor.
Q- Tell us about your journey at Inroads to Opportunities?
A- My journey first started while I was in college and interned here at Inroads for a summer (2014 I believe), primarily helping with the Transition Summer Program and helping the Partial Care team once per week. I enjoyed working with this population very much and returned in April 2019 to be the Medicaid Biller and a Rehabilitation Aide. Since then, I have helped with the Partial Care & Transition Programs whenever they needed help. In January 2020, I was officially named a Vocational Counselor and assigned a caseload to go along with my billing responsibilities. In early 2021 I began helping with Vocational Evaluations as well and in June 2021, I was promoted to Vocational Evaluation Counselor and officially stopped all my Billing Responsibilities. Starting in September 2021, I will be the new Transition Counselor and am very excited for that opportunity.
Q- What are the main challenges that you face every day?
A- I would say the main challenge is the need to be flexible and adapt on the fly. No matter how I plan for a given day, it’s often the case that the day is thrown a curveball and I have to adjust on the fly to serve our participants and make sure all their needs come first and are met.
Q- What was your best day of work here over the last 5 years?
A- My best day was accompanying the Transition students in our summer program to the Turtle Back Zoo. Seeing the joy and excitement on their faces seeing all those animals was priceless for me. We had one of our students, who rarely speaks during class time, so excited and passionate about animals that he couldn’t stop talking about the animals and reading all the signs and fun facts about them the entire time, so that was incredibly rewarding to witness.
Q- How has this past year been in your perspective?
A- It has been challenging to say the least, but it’s impressive and inspiring to see how many of our participants have been able to adapt and thrive with everything thrown at us. It hasn’t been easy but we have been able to overcome so many of the challenges and obstacles together.
Q- What does Inroads look like to you in 5 years from now?
A- I think Inroads will expand and have more people looking to utilize our services as more people come to know about us. I think we will increase our connections in the community and hopefully be able to place even more individuals for Competitive Integrated Employment. I wouldn’t be surprised if we offer even more Work Adjustment Training opportunities in even more fields of work than we do at the moment.
Q- Who is Dave Spiller in 3 words?
A- Caring, Sarcastic, Listener