Congratulations to Ms. Ericka Soberanis, who has been awarded a $750 scholarship by the Nondas Hurst Voll Scholarship Committee!

Soberanis summarized her scholarship essay with the following heartfelt words: "I was so lucky when the Stepping Up program came into my life. It opened a wide road of ideas and opportunities, and helped me get my job. Along the road, I have had their counselors that guide me and teach me about careers where I could really help people, which is my true passion. I am no longer a young woman, but I have many goals yet to accomplish in my future."

Soberanis is a student of The Genesis Center and is currently a Housekeeper at Rhode Island Hospital. She is planning to purchase a laptop computer which she will use as she completes her prerequisite classes for Radiography at CCRI. She will be recognized at a private award ceremony in May hosted by The Fund for Community Progress.

For the first time, Stepping Up teamed with Lifespan Learning Institute to offer a Medical Terminology class for our participants. Classes were taught by Jeannette Diez from the Lifespan Learning Institute on Rhode Island Hospital's campus. Participants attended eight Friday morning classes throughout the months of March, April and May. Once students successfully complete the class, they will receive a Medical Terminology Certificate. Participants were provided with books and class materials at no cost. All are excited for the opportunity and anxious to to apply what they learn in class to their jobs. Stepping Up would like to say a special thank you to Jeannette Diez for providing this invaluable service to our participants!

Stepping Up is pleased to announce a new partnership with Epoch Senior Living. The roots of this partnership stem from as far back as 2008, when Epoch started offering tours to Stepping Up's Healthcare Career Exploration students. In 2010, Epoch began hosting internships and has hired two Stepping Up interns so far. Located on Blackstone Blvd in Providence, Epoch provides a full spectrum of care from Assisted Living to Skilled Nursing and BRIDGES®, a special program for individuals with memory impairment.

Administrator Rodney Gonsalves notes, "As an employer, it's hard to find employees with good work skills. The Stepping Up students come in well-prepared with good attitudes. They are reliable and dependable. The students and our employees benefit by modeling good work behavior to one another." Gonsalves adds, "The best part is that our residents love the students and are always excited when we hire one of them."

So far, students have interned as Dietary Aides in the facility's multiple dining rooms with managers Valerie Sbardella and Vincent Messina. Sbardella shares, "Our experience with Stepping Up students has been all positive. They are ambitious, appreciative, well-trained and want to work hard. The Stepping Up advisors are very hands-on, responsive and accessible. It's a great program!" Life Enrichment Director Holly DesRosiers has also been a great support to the program by leading tours, screening students and hiring a Stepping Up student to facilitate weekend activities with the seniors.

When asked what he would say to other long-term-care facilities considering a partnership with Stepping Up, Gonsalves replies, "Be open to the program. You do get very successful relationships between the students and your residents. It makes the residents happy and helps to build your future workforce."

Raquel Valdez (pictured right, in center flanked by Arne Duncan, US Secretary of Education and Dr. Brenda Dann-Messier) was invited to speak at a national community college summit in Philadelphia on February 28, 2011. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis participated in the summit, which was the first of four regional meetings being held as follow-up events to the White House Summit on Community Colleges in October 2010.

The Philadelphia summit - "Challenges, Solutions, and Commitments" - brought together 150 participants from fifteen surrounding states, representing community colleges, business, industry, philanthropy, labor, state and local governments, as well as students. The summit focus was "Transitioning Adult Learners to Community Colleges and the Workforce."

Naturally this forum was an excellent opportunity for Raquel Valdez to speak about her personal experiences and journey toward the many advances that education and support of the adult education world provided for her to meet her goals. Dr. Brenda Dann-Messier invited Ms. Valdez to present at the summit because of her numerous successes. She moved to Rhode Island from Peru in 2001, learned English, went to Dorcas Place and started in the Stepping Up Program in 2007. She is now a full-time employee at Women & Infants Hospital and a part-time student at CCRI. Ms. Valdez is pursuing a career as a Radiological Technician and is very proud to be representing Rhode Island at this national summit.

In the interim to her potential acceptance into the Diagnostic Imaging program at the Community College of Rhode Island, Raquel has completed her courses for the Medical Insurance Billing Specialist Certificate, an additional 26 credits, at CCRI in just two semesters! These amazing feats are routine for Raquel, who strives to achieve the best that she can in any forum. A quote from her speech that epitomizes this quality: "I don't want to stop learning. I told my daughter, that heaven forbid anything happens to me, please bury me with all of my books!"

This whimsical humor combined with peak professionalism characterizes the perseverance and insatiable desire that Raquel has to advancing her education and position in the health care workforce. Stepping Up is proud of the achievements Raquel has completed to this point and looks forward to supporting her in all her future endeavors.

Special thanks to all the supporters and funders of Stepping Up, especially Carol Holmquist- President of Dorcas Place for funding the transportation and chaperoning Raquel to Philadelphia for this event.

Stepping Up is pleased to announce the hiring of two new Career Advisors. Laura Carbone and Heidi Carla both come to Stepping Up with a wealth of experience and talents, and we are excited to have them as part of our team!

Laura (pictured, right) graduated from Boston University with a Master's Degree in Social Work, as well as attaining a Master's Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from Salve Regina University in Spring of 2011. She served as Assistant Director of Admissions at Curry College in Milton, Massachusetts where we she was employed for ten years, and more recently worked for the State at the Department of Labor and Training in the Pawtucket NetworkRI. Laura will be working with incumbent employees from Landmark Medical Center and other health care facilities in an effort to help them advance into high growth healthcare careers. She will also collaborate with community partner agencies in Woonsocket and Northern Rhode Island to select area residents for training and internship programs that will prepare them for entry-level positions in the health care field. Laura can be reached at lcarbone@steppingupri.org.

Heidi (pictured, left) holds a Master's of Fine Arts in Literary Arts from Brown University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in English/Creative Writing from Roger Williams University. Her professional experience includes ten years serving as a School-Based Coordinator for Cranston Public Schools. In this position, she implemented Career Education Initiatives and Teacher Externship Programs within the high schools. Heidi also coordinated diverse education programs for the Institute for Elementary and Secondary Education at Brown University and Kids First, a non-profit organization guiding communities in improving the nutrition and physical well-being of RI children and their families.
Heidi will be working with incumbent employees from Women & Infants and Rhode Island Hospital. She will also collaborate with Hospitals and community partner agencies in South County to select area residents for training programs that will prepare them for entry-level healthcare positions. She can be reached at hcarla@steppingupri.org.

Nursing is the most popular career goal among Stepping Up's participants, and for good reason. The state of Rhode Island anticipates a growing shortage of nurses in the coming decades, and the local workforce will have to meet this demand. Below are some "fun facts" about nursing that will hopefully inspire current and prospective nursing students and nurses alike:

• The nation's nurses rank first for their honesty and integrity, with 82 percent of Americans rating them "high" or "very high," according to a 2005 Gallup Poll. Nurses have consistently rated first every year but one after being added to the list in 1999.
• According to the National Center for Workforce Analysis, 808,416 jobs for full-time-equivalent nurses are expected to be available and unfilled by 2020.
• In the US, the ratio between registered nurses and doctors is 4:1. Aside from providing the usual health care services to patients, they also teach patients about prevention and work in other fields such as cardiac, family health, gynecology, neonatal, neurology, oncology, pediatrics and other advanced clinical specialties.
• The U.S. has 3.1 million licensed RNs, of whom 2.6 million are actively employed in nursing.
• The profession has grown by 5.3 percent since 2004, a net growth of more than 150,000 RNs.
• Nearly 450,000 RNs, 14.5 percent of the RN population, received their first U.S. license after 2003.
• About 250,000, or 8 percent of all RNs, are advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) - nurses who have met advanced educational and clinical practice guidelines. Common APRN titles include nurse practitioner, certified nurse midwife, certified registered nurse anesthetist and clinical nurse specialist.