A Family’s Calling to Help Others
By Anna Gardner
Being a first responder runs in the family for Chris De La Roca, 20, of Queens. His mother, Julia Betances, is a case manager at Henry Street’s Dale Jones Burch Neighborhood Center. The center—nicknamed the Firehouse for its former role as a fire station—is now a place where team members like Julia act as “first responders” for families facing crises like unemployment and eviction.
When Julia, a mother of five, learned of the Settlement’s Community Response Team (CRT), she knew it would be a great opportunity for her eldest son. A youth community-service corps that began in 2020 during the pandemic to address pressing community needs while providing meaningful work for young people ages 18 to 24, the CRT has evolved to become a vital outreach program within the Settlement’s Department for Integration and Community Engagement (D.I.C.E.).
Chris’s time as a member of the CRT, from January 2023 to May 2024, solidified his desire to work in a helping profession. He found meaning and joy in the immediacy of handing out food at a pantry or serving as a Spanish translator for Lower East Side neighbors. Recognizing his drive, CRT program director Carlos Montañez encouraged him to “keep evolving” and to dream big.
“It stuck in my head, because my mom says the same thing,” says Chris, “and it motivated me to level up.” On his quest to find a meaningful career, Chris had begun a nursing degree program in fall 2023, right before he joined the CRT. But soon after, he met a New York City Fire Department paramedic who suggested he become an emergency medical technician. The opportunity to be there for people in moments of crisis—that first responder on the ground—appealed to Chris.
Chris has now completed his certification and is both working and volunteering as an EMT, logging hours before he begins a training program at LaGuardia Community College to become a critical care paramedic. Julia says that CRT was the best thing to happen for her son. “One thing I’ve learned from Henry Street is to believe in yourself. That’s when the doors to opportunities start to open.”
