Mr. Rafael Rivera

"Any opportunity is a big plus," said Rafael Rivera, senior program director for H.A.S. "I say this is a step to start engaging youth in productive acts."

3) Rafael Rivera of H.A.S. presented a grant the Peace and Education Coalition has received to address underage drinking in the Back of the Yards community.

2) Rafael Rivera, Director of H.A.S. provided an update on the Strategic Planning Framework to address the need of youth in our neighborhood and what is the problem of substance abuse (i.e. alcohol, drugs, etc) in the neighborhood.He reported on school participation and thanked the schools for helping with the Illinois Youth Survey (IYS).Next subcommittee meeting is scheduled for the end of January.

Rafael Rivera - Senior Program Director773-254-5141 x238rrivera@hascares.org

Rafael Rivera

Rafael Rivera currently holds the position of Senior Program Director at Healthcare Alternative Systems, Inc.Mr. Rivera has been working in the field of mental health and addictions for the last 12 years with extensive experience in inpatient mental health and outpatient addictions.He has been working for the last 6 years managing one of the Outpatient program sites for HAS and was promoted to his current administrative position within the last year.Mr. Rivera holds a B.A. with distinction in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago and has completed 2 years of graduate work in Clinical Psychology at Northwestern University.He also is certified by the Illinois Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Professional Certification Association as a C.A.D.C.

Rafael's philosophy of service and commitment to the community has been present since he started to work in the field.He has always worked with community based agencies or hospitals dealing day to day with the struggles of the community.From his efforts to help the chronically mentally ill, the patient in medical detoxification, the person struggling with addictions, the community embattled by violence and drugs, to the management of systems set up to help that community, Mr. Rivera's focus has always been the community.

(left) Marco Jacome, executive director and (center) Rafael Rivera, senior program director of Healthcare Alternative Systems, Inc. recieve the Excellence Award from George Craven.