I moved to Florida as a teenager, unfamiliar with the language and the culture. To say that it was a culture shock is an understatement. This experience altered my life completely. Because of childhood experiences, I developed a passion to advocate for and to help people who are in need of encouragement and guidance. For over twenty
years, I have worked at nonprofit organizations that helped people with physical or mental disabilities. I have been a Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist, a Parent Educator, a Crisis Line Operator, and a parental figure to up to ten teenage girls at the same time, in addition to my own daughter.

While parenting these children, I got to see how those who are considered different, are treated differently. I made it my mission to ensure that these children learned to strive for greatness in their lives and to expect fair treatment from others. My husband experiences his own disabilities for many years, which became more pronounced with time, after a trucking accident. I witnessed him being assigned to jobs that required him to sit all day long, even though it caused him excruciating pain and then being accused of noncompliance when he was unable to keep the jobs. He passed away in 2016, as a result of an aggressive form of cancer. Our daughter was 15 years old at the time and began experiencing depression and anxiety after the loss of her daddy. It was difficult and frustrating to get teachers and administrators to understand why her performance at school had significantly deteriorated, and that she needed their help.

Because of these reasons, among others, I am excited to work for an organization that is passionate about the people they serve and aims at helping them obtain employment based on their interests, skills, and abilities, to maximize their chances of success. I look forward to being a part of this team and growing with employU.