Volunteers are critical to the Help Desk’s daily operations. Hear from the stories of previous volunteers!
"Help Desk fosters growth by connecting patients with critical local resources to address socioeconomic challenges faced due to structural barriers. As a volunteer fluent in both English and Spanish, I've discovered that effective communication is critical in ensuring patients feel heard in their preferred language, that way we can connect them to the resources that best fit their needs. Help Desk prioritizes community engagement and delivers targeted resources to connected patients, making a meaningful difference."
Cristal Ortiz
Neuroscience (B.S.) '25
"Help Desk has taught me how to think on my feet and adapt to meet patients where they are at – wherever that is. Whether a patient needs help searching for housing, the address to the nearest food pantry, or just an ear to listen to their struggle, I'm grateful for the opportunity to be in their corner. I've grown more confident in both my knowledge of resources in the Durham community and my ability to guide patients through complex situations, and I am proud to serve as a resource for others as they navigate an often-confusing system."
Julia Caci
Biology (B.S.) '24
"Help Desk is an opportunity to take small but active steps to connect with patients in the face of structural inequalities affecting access to health. This is a truly role to listen rather than talk and learn to be with someone in both high and low moments, something that I am trying to improve on not just in the context of Help Desk and something I think Duke students in general need to be more attentive to too."
Tyler Lian
Mathematics (B.S.) '20
