An overwhelming passion for the care of others was really all it took to get Aquinas McJefferson through her training regimen. Nevertheless, she overcame substantial hurdles to achieve her day of celebration recently with ten fellow graduates from the Michigan Career and Technical Institute (MCTI) Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) program offered at the Kinexus Training Center in December.
Aquinas overcame significant barriers over the course of the program and has completely changed the future of her family in the process.
Aquinas came to Kinexus and immediately got a jump start on her career despite being nine months pregnant. While she had previous health care experience, she did not have the state certification necessary to find employment as a CNA, and worse yet she didn’t have a driver’s license in order to get to and from work regularly. She interviewed for the CNA program and the next day, she delivered her daughter, Zhavia. However, that did anything but stop her.
She tells us, “I started the CNA class because taking care of others is my passion,” and adds, “This was the best experience for me and when things were hard, I kept pushing forward for my child. I love my new career as a CNA.”
With the start of class, Aquinas faced a balancing act of learning both new job skills and how to be a mom, literally side-by-side with one another. When she missed class time due to an unexpected medical procedure, she was in constant contact with course instructor and RN, Diane Kellogg and her classmates to make sure she stayed on track. While others clearly might have given up, Aquinas persevered, passed her driver’s test, earned her license, completed the program and is now employed at Royalton Manor in Saint Joseph as a Certified Nurse Assistant — CNA.
Kinexus supported Aquinas through one-on-one career coaching and support services that assisted her in completing the program.
Rick VanIttersum is Vocational Training Manager at Kinexus. He says, “Working with Aquinas was a breath of fresh air because her drive was contagious.” He adds, “I was impressed by her ability to inspire others and ultimately meet her goals.”
While her short-term goal was to become a CNA, Aquinas hopes to start her own business eventually in the health care field.
The CNA program is a partnership between Kinexus, Michigan Career and Technical Institute, Michigan Rehabilitation Services, Eurisko Vocational Services, Benton Harbor Promise, Disability Network, and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
MCTI’s program in Benton Harbor began as a pilot in 2014 to bring short term training options to communities outside of the Plainwell campus. The curriculum was designed for people who may struggle with traditional academic courses or would like extra time to master skills. Out of the previous nine cohorts, the Benton Harbor program featured a 95.5-percent state certification rate and a 81.5-percent employment rate in the health care field.
The Certified Nursing Assistant program is a 14-week course where trainees build the vocational and soft skills required to enter the medical field. Recruitment for cohort 11 is ongoing. Classes begin in April.
