By Leticia Abreu, Former Care Pathways Participant
MOSAIC’s free Care Pathways program helps visible minority newcomer women kickstart their career with an alternative pathway into the senior care sector. The program is currently recruiting a new cohort of participants, which will begin in January 2022. To register for this free program, click here. If you have questions regarding the program, please email pathways@mosaicbc.org.
My name is Leticia and I am a 34-year-old woman from Spain. Love brought me to Canada, and I landed as a permanent resident in July of 2020. I had always wanted to live in an English-speaking country as part of my growth journey, although I never planned to do it in the midst of a global pandemic. It was a rough start, but luckily, I made it through.
My professional background involves digital marketing and graphic design. I had wonderful experiences working in those fields, was given great opportunities and worked with an amazing team. However, deep inside, I knew my heart was craving service, to help the vulnerable, and to make a positive impact in the world.
I found out about the Care Pathways program at MOSAIC thanks to my husband, who told me to check the website to look at the different services they have for newcomers. I found that I complied with the requisites to apply, and Care Pathways was an amazing opportunity to start a new career and live more in alignment with my values.
From the very beginning, I received the kindest service from the Care Pathways staff. They scheduled informative meetings, helped fill documents, and were always incredibly supportive and invested in every single participant.
I was expecting a program that would focus on learning vocabulary and techniques to work with seniors. I was surprised and amazed that it didn’t stop there. We were given training on essential skills, we learned to detect our strengths and how to sell them to employers, techniques to read and write real documents found at senior care facilities, professional English vocabulary – which I truly needed, as someone who spoke mostly casual English – and so much more.
To me, some of the most impactful workshops were the ones about self-love and confidence. I can say that the person I was before is very different to the one I am after the exercises we did and the team’s constant reassurance of our worth and capabilities as participants.
I am currently employed by Home Instead (HI) in Vancouver, and I can affirm that I have never been happier at my job. I adore my seniors and I feel highly valued and respected by them and by the HI team.
My plans for the future include becoming a Health Care Assistant, and a close friend I made in the program is even encouraging me to pursue nursing after that. But for now, I can say that I feel happy and grateful for where I am, and I don’t plan on changing that anytime soon.
I want to highlight the remarkable work of all the Care Pathways staff. Your work truly changes lives.
