Ray Custodio, an administrative assistant for the City of Miami’s Department of Human Resources, isn’t one to stay home.
During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, he was alone among his co-workers to regularly (twice a week) come into the office. One of his duties was to collect everyone’s office mail, scan it and send it electronically to each recipient. As the Information Technology liaison, another was to obtain laptops and assign them to staff working remotely.
Now that things have (mostly) returned to normal, Custodio seems intent on being out and about. When he’s not working in the office, he’s volunteering at job fairs or traveling for fun.
“I’m here for the people,” Custodio says. “When I’m actually able to help people, it makes me smile. And because I’m able to help them, they’re happy when they leave me. I just enjoy my job. I’m very passionate about it.”
Whether he’s answering phones, providing guidance to the public at jobs fairs or making life easier for his co-workers by bringing Florida Licensing On Wheels to the office, Custodio says he’s a people person who thrives by helping others.
For his service to his community, Custodio, a member of Local 1907, is a winner of our union’s Never Quit Service Award, which recognizes public service workers who go above and beyond the call of duty to make their communities better.
“Ray is always looking out for employees and constituents,” said Judith Perez Almeida, a co-worker who nominated him for the award. “He is always going above and beyond to help out and put a smile on our faces. He is a huge asset to our department and we’re lucky to have him on our team.”
Custodio got his start in the U.S. Navy, where he was stationed in San Diego. After that he worked with Manatee County, Florida. All in all, he has served his country or worked in government for most of his professional life.
“I love government work,” he says. “It comes with so many benefits.”
One of the benefits of his current job is being part of a strong union.
“Our union really does make government work better,” Custodio says. “It’s through AFSCME that we can improve public services and fight for what we deserve.”
In his free time, Custodio likes to travel. This summer, he visited friends in Scotland and then headed to Mykonos, one of the Greek islands.
“Every chance I get, I travel,” he says. “If you see my office, I have two overhead boards with postcards from everywhere.”