Stepping Up celebrated its largest graduating class in December 2009. Twenty-seven participants successfully completed either the Hospital Clerical Training Program or the Healthcare Career Exploration training from Dorcas Place or The Genesis Center, as well as their Stepping Up internships. Mayor David Cicilline attended with congratulatory words for the graduates.

Past graduate, Roque Minaya, was the keynote speaker and conveyed the story of his Stepping Up journey over the past year. Mr. Minaya's speech centered on a motto he lives by, "live your life by design, not by default." His message expressed that "Stepping Up can be the springboard to launch you into your future and help you design the life you want."

Graduate Issamar De La Cruz, who interned as a NICU greeter at Women & Infants Hospital, shared this moving thought during her speech. "When I look into my son's eyes, I want to give him all of the opportunities and chances in life...and when he looks at me, I want him to see a hard working nurse and mother achieving my goals." Ms. De La Cruz is beginning her path toward that goal with Stepping Up.

Ten of these graduates already have jobs at Rhode Island Hospital, Women & Infants Hospital and The Miriam Hospital. Some have enrolled in certificate and Associate's degree programs, a number are attending C.N.A. trainings and others are applying their job search training with the support of Stepping Up.

Stepping Up would like to echo the graduates by thanking all those who support the community internship program.

The 2nd annual Mentor Celebration was held on Thursday, December 3rd at the Gerry House at Rhode Island Hospital. This event celebrated the culmination of two six-month mentoring cycles for 2009. Over the past two years, Stepping Up has completed four mentoring cycles, and since the inception of the Stepping Up Mentor program in 2008 there have been over 25 mentors, 50 hours of job shadow days, and over 600 hours of mentoring. These impressive statistics can be attributed to the many hours of sacrifice and time that our beloved mentors and mentees devote to the relationships that are forged in the interest of advancement in the health care arena.

The symbolic theme of the event was "The Key"; which reflects the Key to successful attainment of the long term goals of Stepping Up participants to enter high-growth, high-demand professions such as: Respiratory Therapy, front line management, Human Resources, Pediatric Nursing, Radiologic Technology, and many other health care modalities. Mentors and mentees alike exchanged anecdotes of their mentoring experiences along with gifts in commemoration of the event. The Stepping Up Mentoring program is humbled by the passion with which mentors from Women & Infants' Hospital and Rhode Island Hospital continue to deliver critical guidance to participants in the Stepping Up program.

Anyone interested in joining the Mentoring program or learning more about it is invited to visit the Stepping Up website: http://www.steppingupri.org for more information.

We acknowledge the following mentors who have provided invaluable support to our Mentoring program.

The fall semester of CCRI classes offered through Stepping Up ended with great results, as 50 out of 60 students received final grades of A's or B's. Students were enrolled in English, math, and psychology classes. One participant remarked, "this is my first class with Stepping Up and I know I want to continue. The extra support and location (classes are held on-site at the hospitals) make going to school much easier."

The current spring semester has five class offerings, with a total attendance of 65 students. The classes include math, English, psychology and an anatomy and physiology course, which is being sponsored by Stepping Up for the first time. The program continues to maintain an excellent partnership with CCRI, offering several classes each semester for participants. Course selection is based on the majority needs of our participants; most classes can be counted as prerequisites to the various healthcare programs that our participants are aspiring toward.

2009 was a great year for the Stepping Up tutoring program. A total of 438 hours of tutoring was provided to 59 students, in 13 different courses. Since the tutoring program began in May 2008, 621 hours of tutoring have been provided.

The program receives great feedback from tutors about our program as well. They see first-hand how hard participants work to achieve their career goals. One English tutor reported, "it's been a pleasure working with [my student]. I find it amazing that she's able to juggle all the things she does and remain dedicated to her school work."

The Stepping Up program is excited to be able to support participants with personalized, one-on-one tutoring that helps them succeed in their classes.

Each newsletter, Stepping Up will feature a message from one of our participants as part of a running "Stepping Up Mailbox" section. The following message is from Jazmin, one of our Community Pipeline participants, who began working with Stepping Up in early 2009 through our Hospital Clerical Training program. Since then, she has made great strides in working toward her career goals. Below is her story.

***********************************************************

My new job is really interesting and I am always learning new things and interacting with so many people from the Radiologists themselves, to all the technicians. It is a lot different than my previous job in the Emergency Room but I'm glad I transferred over. I feel like it's kinda where I belong. I see so many things between MRI, CT, XRAY, and Ultrasound. It is a great learning experience and I have never been more sure that Radiology is what I want to do. School has just started and hopefully this semester will be as good as the last. I was just thinking that a year has gone by and I have accomplished so many things thanks to Stepping Up. Stepping Up has given me the proper tools and keys to help me get where I am today. I am so very thankful to be a part of such a wonderful program. Thank you once again.

Joshua Morales enrolled in Stepping Up in September 2009 through our Hospital Clerical Training Program. He has also participated in our Youth program. Since enrolling with Stepping Up, Joshua has completed the Clerical Training program, including an internship as a Unit Assistant at Rhode Island Hospital. Following his internship, he quickly landed a job as a Unit Assistant in another department at Rhode Island Hospital, and has enrolled in college to work toward his goal of becoming a Radiology Technologist. Below, Joshua talks about his experience with Stepping Up and his plans for the future.

***********************************************************
1) How did you hear about Stepping Up?
I heard about Stepping Up through the Lifespan Summer Youth Program, a fascinating program as well, that I was enrolled in this past summer.

2) What were you doing before you joined Stepping Up?
I was working at Rhode Island Hospital in the Office Services department through the Summer Youth Program before I joined Stepping Up.

3) Where did you intern? How did it prepare you for the work you are doing now?
My internship was in the COOP Building of Rhode Island Hospital on the 2nd floor as a Unit Assistant. It was extraordinary. I learned a lot about the medical equipment and supplies throughout the hospital. This internship prepared me for the work I am doing now because while I was interning, I was able to gain skills and learn strategies from each Unit Assistant that was training me. Now, I am a Unit Assistant at Rhode Island Hospital in the Jane Brown Building. Thanks to my internship, trainers, and floor Manager I was able to obtain superior skills and phenomenal knowledge to get my job done in the best way possible.

4) What have you learned from your experience working with Stepping Up?
I learned a great deal about medical terminology which will come in handy in the future. I also learned how to enhance my interview skills, build a resume, figure out what my strengths and weaknesses are, and how to turn a weakness into strength.

5) What are your career goals? How has Stepping Up helped you assess those goals?
My career goal is to study Radiography and become a Radiology Technologist. Stepping Up has helped me assess these goals by helping me enroll into CCRI, applying for financial aid, and picking the classes that will help me get closer to the Radiology Program.

6) What piece of advice would you give someone that wants to join Stepping Up?
The best advice I can give is to go into the program with strong determination, dedication, and the will to be successful.