To some, city housing property inspector Dave Helmick is like an undercover vigilante, saving families from substandard and unsanitary living conditions.
"The most common thing I hear from the residents we encounter is 'I know I needed help, but I didn't know where to start,'" Helmick said.
For two years, Helmick has worked with tenants, landlords and homeowners to ensure their overall safety and quality of life in their homes. On a daily basis, he sees people living in the worst conditions.
This can vary from instances of hoarding or storing mountains of trash to defective plumbing and bug infestation.
Helmick noted this year alone his team has been called to inspect 3,200 violations in homes.
He said the biggest issue is the general public not being educated on city codes. A lot of the times, residents are not aware they are violating the codes until a neighbor makes a complaint or the inspectors come out, he said.
"What I enjoy is the ability to work on projects, fix things and help to make the city better and safer," he said. "A lot of the calls I get are for occupied structures that have substandard living conditions, so I enjoy being able to improve those or get folks into better living conditions."
Prior to his position with the city, he was with the Boone County Sheriff's Department, in retail management for 18 years and served in the United States Army as a carpentry masonry specialist. Helmick is married and has two children.
"The nice thing about a job like this is you get to interact with people; you're out in the field and you're not behind a desk all day," he said. "You get to see the good and the bad."
In a role like Helmick's, background experience plays a key role in his overall effectiveness.
It helps to have a background in construction, reading building plans and enforcing codes - because it comes up on a daily basis, he said. He also has the important ability to communicate in tough situations and de-escalate them when needed when entering homes.
In two years, Helmick has attained various certifications like residential and commercial property inspector and property maintenance inspector, and he has taken courses related to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
He explained the hardest and most frustrating part of the job is to see children living in conditions where there is waste, filth and feces, and that it's being allowed by the parents and owners of the properties. But the most rewarding part, he said, is being able to work with the people to either repair the house or move them to better conditions.
These daily experiences open your eyes to what a lot people deal with in their daily lives, he said.
"This is what I enjoy and look forward to sticking with it. There are never two days that are the same," Helmick said. "My biggest thing is the safety and quality of life for the citizens."