Luliia joined the Pathways to Success program in 2013. She lived with her parents, who both received Social Security income due to disabilities, and younger siblings. At the time, Luliia was going through the Surgical Technician program at Mount Hood Community College (MHCC). She was struggling to pay for transportation and other expenses since she was unemployed and was about to drop out of the Surgical Technician program. Luliia asked her Vocational Case Manager (VCM) to help her find a job so that she could help her family financially.
After assessing the financial and housing situation, Luliia was advised to pursue her training at MHCC while her VCM assisted her family in accessing rental and energy assistance, food, and other resources. We were able to assist Luliia with a monthly gas card for transportation and assisted her with the National Examination fee.
After Luliia successfully completed her Surgical Technician program at MHCC and went through an internship, her VCM assisted her with creating a resume and completing online employment applications for many employers, such as Providence, Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), Legacy Health, and various medical staffing agencies.
Luliia was called for an interview at Providence and OHSU. Her VCM spent time with Luliia reviewing possible interview questions for the upcoming interviews. Luliia went to both interviews with confidence and was offered a job at Providence and OHSU. Since OHSU offered a full-time position, Luliia decided to accept the position with OHSU. Luliia is happy working full-time for OHSU and is earning $20.00/hour. She is looking forward to gaining more skills and work experience in the Surgical Tech field and sharing her experience with her siblings and friends. She mentioned that she would encourage all of her friends, siblings, and other church members to go to college and work hard to reach their educational goals. Her dream and future goal is to become a surgeon.
