DES Colleague Shout-Out Armando Trujillo

Thousands of colleagues deal with clients on a daily basis, and sometimes that work can become discouraging. It can also be highly rewarding. DES colleagues are rising to the occasion and truly shining like superstars. Once such colleague is Armando Trujillo, Support Staff Supervisor for the Appellate Services Administration’s (ASA) Public Assistance Hearing Team with the Office of Inspector General. 

Armando happened across the case of a 70-year-old lady who mentioned she had no food. This client, who had an appeal pending before ASA on the reduction of her monthly SNAP benefits (due to her Social Security benefits) was lonely, scared, confused, hungry and sad.

As he often does, Armando engaged this client in conversation after answering her questions and explaining the hearing process. He learned that she has two adult sons who abandoned her two years ago. Because she cannot take proper care of herself, she has had to go to the emergency room on several occasions because of her medications. Armando assured her that no matter what, she could always call him if she wanted someone to visit with. She has done so nearly every day for the past several weeks.

Because he often does more than is required, he began seeking resources for this client, and after more than a week, successfully reached someone at AARP. The AARP representative confirmed our client’s application had been received for senior services and should be approved shortly. This approval included the Meals on Wheels program.

Armando then arranged for Catholic Charities to call our client, schedule a once-a-week visitation, and provide to her phone numbers for resources on everything from medications to food.

And lastly, he was able to get the folks from the City of Phoenix Senior Living program to contact her and send someone from the Desert Winds Senior Center to check on her weekly.

Thank you, Armando, for going above and beyond in the care of our clients!