In recognition of the Education Fund’s 20th anniversary, here’s a success story from our 2012 Annual Report. With the support of the Education Fund, Jevry Norimarna went from Certified Nursing Assistant to Respiratory Care Practitioner at Kaiser Permanente. The support of his Career Counselor helped keep him on track and he graduated his program with honors, going on to receive a wage increase of 48%! Stories like this show the impact our programs and services have had on the lives of our members over the past two decades.
“I am grateful for this benefit that helps hard-working people like me to go back to school and move up in our careers.”
From the time I migrated to the USA from Indonesia, I planned to go back to school. I enrolled in a Certified Nursing Assistant Program, which opened my eyes to bigger horizons in the healthcare profession. I went on to get certified as an EKG technician and was hired at Kaiser Permanente, South San Francisco. When I learned about the Respiratory Therapy Program at Skyline College, I was eager to further my education but worried about finding the time to go to school. Luckily, my manager introduced me to the Stipend Program. If not for her, I would not have been able to complete my training. The program was not easy. For the entire two years, I took no vacations and did no socializing. I had to wake up at 3:00am every day to keep up with my classes. I was blessed to have Daisy Kinyauo as my Education Fund counselor. She was always on my side when I had questions. Everything paid off, and I graduated with high honors and was awarded “Outstanding Student.” In October 2010, I found a new benefitted job as a Respiratory Care Practitioner at my home facility, getting paid 48% more than I did before. I am now registered as a student at Oregon Institute of Technology to get my Bachelor’s degree in Respiratory Care so I can continue my professional growth.
Jevry with his Education Fund counselor, Daisy Kinyauo. “Because of her care, I felt I had the obligation to prove that I could do well in the program.”
