Skilled Immigrant Task Force - Workforce Development & Adult Learning - Success Stories
Mee Soo Kim felt as if her American Dreams were Coming True
In 2018, Mee Soo Kim immigrated to the US from South Korea with her two children. Like many others, Mee Soo arrived with limited resources, few personal belongings, and the hope of a brighter future for her family. Being the primary caregiver of two small children – one who has a significant disability – did not allow her to pursue a career immediately. Although Mee Soo had a college education, the language barrier posed as an obstacle for her to find jobs commensurate with her level of education. Because of this, Mee Soo worked odd jobs to help her family make ends meet.
Mee Soo has always had an interest in caregiving, but due to language and childcare barriers, she had to wait to pursue a career in this field. Once her children were of school age, Mee Soo was able to connect in January 2022 with Mitra Basu at the Howard County Office of Workforce Development and receive services, such as skills development, and obtain a voucher to take a certification course to pursue a career in healthcare. Mee Soo chose to pursue the Certified Nursing Assistant program at Howard Community College and earned her certification as verified by the Maryland Board of Nursing.
Having earned this credential, Mee Soo expressed that she felt as though she finally made it; her American Dreams were coming true. Not long after she completed her certification, she obtained employment in July 2022 with the Lorien Rehab and Nursing Center in Columbia. As a motivated, ambitious, and driven individual, she earned an award at the Lorien Center as the "Employee of the Month."
In 2023, Mee Soo is taking additional training as an Advanced Patient Care Technician. This training will enable her to compete in the labor market and earn a better living for herself and her two children.
We are extremely proud of Mee Soo and all that she has accomplished.
Yama Takes the Next Step in His Adventurous International Career
To say Yama, who immigrated to the U.S. from Afghanistan with his family in 2010, is a highly-skilled professional may be an understatement. Yama earned a medical degree from Kabul Medical University and subsequently served as a general surgeon for the Afghan Government's health department and the Camp Phoenix Hospital operated by the American army. In addition to his healthcare career, Yama held Associate Professor roles teaching language and cryptology for a variety of U.S. federal agencies. Despite his extensive formal training and diverse professional background, Yama found himself without a job in 2020 when funding for the programs he supported was eliminated.
Fortunately, Yama found Workforce Specialist Mitra Basu at the Columbia American Job Center (AJC).
Yama shared with Mitra that he wanted to return to his medical career, but he could not afford the prohibitive costs involved. After working with Mitra to consider his options, Yama decided to leverage his medical training to become a surgical technician. Mitra helped Yama secure funding to cover the cost of Surgical Technologist training as well as the American Board of Surgical Associate certification exam. Yama completed the training and passed the exam with flying colors.
Today, Yama is finding that his skills are in high demand. The internationally renowned Johns Hopkins Hospital has offered him a job as an Assistant to the Surgeon for Urology, and Howard Community College is recruiting him to work as an Adjunct Faculty Professor of Surgery. With Yama’s determination and support from the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, he is launching the next exciting chapter in an adventurous career path!
Helen gets the career help she needs through the Baltimore Alliance for Careers in Healthcare
Helen came to the United States from Eritrea in 2017 with her three young boys, reuniting with her husband, Daniel, who had arrived in 2014. Helen and Daniel were the first from their family to immigrate to the United States and had no other family in the country. Helen received her diploma in accounting in her home country of Eritrea in 2015. She worked as a customer services representative while there for almost nine years and supervised others as well as provided on-the-job training.
Once she came to the United States, Helen worked as a cashier at a local Baltimore City gas station, where she improved her English communication skills and became more accustomed with the U.S. culture through daily interactions with customers.
Through the Caroline Center, Helen obtained her CNA/GNA license and received dementia training, along with CPR and first aid. This allowed her to work part-time as a nursing assistant at the 2nd Family Home Health Care Service, where she maintained patient care records, monitored their conditions, reported on their progress, and related all information to the patients’ family and her supervisor.
In early 2019, Helen connected with Baltimore Alliance for Careers in Healthcare (BACH), who sponsor several healthcare apprenticeship programs. Helen successfully completed a career readiness class teaching skill in résumé building, cover letter writing, and interview techniques. Soon after, she interviewed and was accepted by Johns Hopkins Hospital to participate in the Environmental Care Supervisor apprenticeship sponsored by BACH. A little over one year later, Helen successfully completed the program and transitioned to full-time permanent supervisor role.
Helen gained many lessons from the apprenticeship, which she states helped shape her professional development, improve her job performance, and equip her with the skills needed to be a successful supervisor. Helen earns over $11 more per hour in her new role than she was earning in her previous position before starting the apprenticeship. She is also now working full time and receives critical benefits such as healthcare. The increase of Helen’s wage has benefitted her daily expenses and has allowed her to make long-term plans such as buying a house and improving her livelihood.
Helen is proud to be an employee of Johns Hopkins, a well-known hospital, where she hopes to continue to increase her skills and education. She has truly enjoyed the experience of being in a healthcare apprenticeship, as it has also allowed her to understand better the American workforce culture. Helen states that one day she would like to return to school to earn a degree in Nursing or Health IT, while continuing to build upon her career at Johns Hopkins.
With the help of the registered apprenticeship program, Bechak advances his career
Bechak Deng, was born in Ethiopia and worked for over 7 years as a social worker in his country. After being forced to leave his home based upon social-political conflict, he immigrated to Baltimore with his family in 2016. With the help of the International Rescue Committee in Baltimore his family was resettled and found stability through entry level employment in warehouse and hospitality positions.
Earlier this year, the IRC referred Bechak to BACH’s apprenticeship program to assist in advancing his career. He has recently graduated the apprenticeship program and now works full time at University of Maryland Medical Center as a Central Sterile Processing Technician. Bechak has also received his certification as a Registered Central Service Technician, recognized by the International Association of Healthcare Central Service Material Management. He states, “Working at the University of Maryland Medical System as a Central Sterile Processing Technician has been a great privilege and has opened doors for me in the healthcare field.”
Howard Community College Skilled Immigrant Program – A Road to Career Success for New Americans
Mary Barton is the English Language Center Enrollment, Transitions, and Outreach Coordinator at Howard Community College, and she knows a thing or two about the challenges New Americans - immigrants, refugees, asylees, temporary and long-term visitors from other countries – often face when trying to enter the U.S. workforce. Housing, dependent care, education, and employment are a few of the most common obstacles. The good news is that Mary and the team of dedicated staff with whom she works at the Skilled Immigrant Program at Howard Community College work hard every day to help these individuals build a brighter economic future, by connecting them with the supportive services and employment and training resources they need to overcome their challenges and achieve their career goals.
The focus of the Skilled Immigrant Program is to help participants navigate to the highest level job aligned with their knowledge, skills, and abilities. The program includes two courses. The first is a four week, 16-hour intensive course that covers essential topics, including an introduction to the United States job culture, career exploration and resume writing. The second is a six week, 30-hour course that features professional career counseling, tutoring in pronunciation, interview preparation, and mentorship from industry leaders.
Recalling the genesis of the Skilled Immigrant Program, Mary notes, “It began as a training program funded by the banking sector to prepare multilingual applicants. The program was so successful in meeting employer needs, other sectors in the business community jumped onboard. Over time, we’ve expanded beyond banking to serve internationally trained and experienced professionals in the business, science and technology, human services and education sectors.”
“Skilled Immigrant Program staff come from the standpoint of valuing the importance of a multilingual individual’s education, training, and experience,” Mary says, in explaining the program’s success. “For example, a participant may have been an engineer in their country of origin, but their lack of a U.S.-recognized credential may be a barrier to working under the formal job title of an engineer in this country. Instead of zeroing in on the barrier, we look at the opportunities for working with an engineer. We focus on identifying participants’ transferable skills, and working with them to map out unique training and employment paths that coordinate all of our resources and get them as close as possible to their full professional potential.”
Thanks to Mary and her team for making Maryland’s workforce stronger and more diverse!
Do you know someone who could benefit from the services the Skilled Immigrant Program at Howard Community College offers? The Program currently enrolls up to 15 participants per course cycle. Registrants need not be residents of Howard County, but they should be work-authorized and open to traveling to work in Central Maryland. Once enrolled in the program, participants will gain access to support services located at Howard Community College, such as the Career Services Center. To learn more about the Skilled Immigrant Program, please visit www.howardcc.edu/skilledimmigrant.
Namrata Unadkat
Namrata Unadkat is a 42 year-old mother of two who arrived in the United States 12 years ago from India. After spending a few years raising her children, she was ready to return to work, but her job search was not yielding results. She heard about training and career services available through the Asian American Center of Frederick (AACF) while at a community job fair. She applied to participate in the AACF’s entry-level training for Community Health Workers (CHW) and was delighted to be accepted into the program. Namrata was highly active during the training and soon began volunteering to help AACF staff and incumbent CHWs. In 2019, she was employed as the CHW Outreach Coordinator for AACF.
In this role, Namrata worked with new CHW cohorts to help them conduct meetings with community members and provide health care information. She was invited to serve as a Maryland Delegate at the National CHW Conference in April 2019. Two months later, she successfully ran the S2M2 Project for Frederick high school students planning to pursue a career in healthcare. Namrata was soon offered the position of AACF Language Resource Specialist with a salary raise. Last year, she finished her CHW training and was hired for a full-time CHW position at the Frederick Health Hospital (FHH). Reflecting on her journey and accomplishments, Namrata says: “I am happy to provide additional income for my family and do the work that I like, and all of this was made possible because of the EARN Maryland grant program.”
Mr. Mattan Yim
Mr. Mattan Yim, a Senior Information Technology (IT) Professional with considerable experience, was laid off in the summer of 2019 at the end of a corporate contract. Mr. Yim enrolled in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) WorkSource Montgomery (WSM) program in the fall of 2020 to expand his skills in Robotic Process Automation and leverage his technical skills toward an IT position in that ‘niche’, yet in-demand field. Mr. Yim recognized the benefits of increasing his relevant experience within his new target field.
The WSM Business Services unit worked with Mr. Yim and WSM business partner, Washington Software, to develop a solid On-the-Job Training (OJT) opportunity as a Software Developer. The employer required that Mr. Yim complete several online classes as a prerequisite to starting the OJT opportunity. In August of 2020, Mr. Yim began a three month OJT opportunity with Washington Software, earning outstanding performance reviews during the periodic assessments of his training progress.
During this period of training, Mr. Yim shared with his WSM Career Advisor that it was “a great learning environment,” that he was “gaining valuable experience,” and that he was truly “enjoying the opportunity.”
At the conclusion of the OJT period, Mr. Yim received multiple job offers, ultimately accepting a six-figure salary with Steampunk, a federal contractor headquartered in McLean, Virginia.
Mr. Yim is especially pleased that the position, which started in February of 2021, involves his primary occupational objective, Robotic Process Automation.
Congratulations Mr. Yim!
Maryam Kiashemshaki
“My name is Maryam and I came to the United States in 2005 with a Tourist Visa. While here, I met my husband and we got married in 2006. Now, I have a 13-year-old son. Unfortunately, my marriage didn’t work out. My husband was abusive and my visa expired.
“For more than 14 years, I lived in great fear and anxiety. Under these circumstances and because of my visa status, I was unsure of whether I could file for a divorce. Eventually, when my life, and especially the life of my son, became unbearable, I found some shards of courage and filed for divorce in December 2018.
After my separation, I started seeing a counselor. I filed for my Green Card and received it.
My counselor introduced me to the Asian American Center of Frederick (AACF) which changed my life significantly. I enrolled in the Community Health Workers (CHW) training program and successfully completed both modules. Now I work 30 hours per week at AACF as a Language Resource Specialist and the new income is helping me to support my son.
I have also completed several other training programs online and received four certificates. My level of anxiety has been reduced tremendously, and my son and I are much happier. I feel stronger and more confident now. I think I owe a big part of my progress to the AACF and CHW Training funded through the EARN Maryland program.”
Ms. Adela Santos Fuentes
Ms. Adela Santos Fuentes is in the US under protected refugee status. She was a middle school teacher in Honduras, Central America and is in the US because she was a victim of harassment and abuse by local gangs. Ms. Santos Fuentes has a Master’s degree in secondary education and over 15 years' experience as a teacher. However, she had to settle for a part-time position in cleaning at her local library earning $11.50 per hour. She was told by the staff that in order to obtain a position in keeping with her education she needed to improve her English skills and demonstrate that her education is equivalent to US requirements.
She was referred to Employ Prince George’s (EPG) by way of the American Job Center. As a part of her employment plan, her credentials were sent to WES for evaluation. EPG’s business team developed an On the Job Training (OJT) position as a Teachers Aid for her while she prepared for the Child Development credential (CDA). After intensive coaching from the EPG team, she was hired when the OJT ended. She successfully passed her exam and worked as a CDA earning $14.50 per hour for several months. She received a promotion as an Early Head Start Teacher and is now earning $21.50 per hour. As she awaits her credential evaluation, she is on the path of achieving her goal to become a fully accredited middle school teacher/counselor in the US.
Paola Whelan - Welcome Back Center - Testimony
Since arriving to the United States from Peru, the Welcome Back Center has helped me in so many ways towards my dream of becoming a Registered Nurse (RN) in the U.S.
The Center provided me with the financial assistance I needed in order to take English classes at Montgomery College to improve my English language proficiency. They also assisted me with all the paperwork necessary to validate the nursing classes that I took at “Universidad Nacional Pedro Ruiz Gallo” in Peru. This step was very critical to pursue my RN license. Through their guidance, I was able to get my Certified Nursing Assistant license and started working at an assisted living facility in Maryland.
I would also like to thank them for their immeasurable contribution while I was preparing for the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN). I was able to attend classes and access online resources that helped me to succeed in the Board exam. I worked extremely hard to achieve this dream, and I could never have done it without the overall support of the Welcome Back Center.
I am happy to say that I am now a full-time Registered Nurse at a local hospital in Maryland. I am grateful for the support that enabled me to be at the forefront in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic at my full capacity.
Special thanks to my Client Assistance Specialist, Jose Amaya, the Workforce Development Coordinator, Ana Mejia and the Welcome Back Center Program Manager, Carmen Saenz!
Thank you, Welcome Back Center!!
Paola Whelan
Daysi Flores
Daysi Flores is 26 years old, and she moved to the United States from Honduras in 2017 together with her husband and baby girl. Due to her limited English proficiency and responsibilities as a mother, she was not able to look for a job immediately. Her husband worked hard to support the family, even as available opportunities were not well paid. Daysi had a good education from her country - a bachelor’s degree in business psychology and an elementary teacher diploma - but her lack of language skills held her back. After some consideration, she decided to take an English as a Second Language (ESL) class at the Montgomery Literacy Council and has been attending it ever since.
In 2018, she volunteered to help at the Asian Indian Center of Montgomery County, where she heard about AACF and the EARN Maryland grant program. She immediately applied for the Community Health Worker (CHW) training program and attended both parts of the training together with her baby girl. She found time to volunteer for AACF outreach programs, such as ZIKA Awareness and Tobacco Cessation. She traveled with a group of other CHW trainees to the National CHW Conference in Las Vegas and volunteered to help with interpreting for the AACF Maternity Program for Hispanic women. Shortly thereafter, she applied for the next EARN Project Training for CHW Interpreters. She jokes that her baby girl can work as an CHW interpreter too, after attending so many classes.
Several months ago, Daysi received an offer from the Asian Indian Center and started her first part-time job as a CHW there. We understand how difficult her life was when she had to study and take care of her baby, but she had a good and supportive husband who helped her a lot, and now she can help him provide for the family. Daysi says that education is the right way to start a long trip to success and that she is very grateful that the CHW program was free and accessible to her.
Carolina Sundergill
Carolina Sundergill's experience with the EARN Maryland (EARN) Community Health Workers (CHW) Training Program is unique. She completed her associate’s degree when she was 16 years old in her country.
Migrating to the United States was a difficult process for Carolina and her family. She witnessed her parent’s resiliency and passion as they sought the best for her and her siblings despite being challenged by a limited English proficiency. Soon after immigrating, she got married and gave birth to a daughter. Almost simultaneously, she began studying English by enrolling in English as a Second Language (ESL) courses offered by every organization she could find that provided free classes for immigrants. She couldn’t work, because her daughter was too little, but she was learning a lot. When people told Carolina that she was completing her education too fast and that it wasn’t necessary, her answer was always, “Why not go fast if those are the opportunities that are in store for me?”
When Carolina’s daughter started school last year, Carolina came to the Asian American Center of Frederick (AACF) and volunteered her morning hours to help staff and clients. Later she heard about the AACF EARN CHW Project and applied to the program. After graduating successfully from the first 40-hour training, Carolina began working part-time as a Medical CHW and Interpreter for AACF customers.
But Carolina didn’t stop there. She signed up for another CHW/Community Interpreter Training offered through the EARN program.
Being a CHW trainee gave Carolina the opportunity to interact with other high-achieving participants and experienced CHWs. AACF personnel also helped her connect with the Frederick Memorial Hospital Office for Community Interpreter Services.
“The training program often seemed to me very hard,” Carolina explains, “and I often found myself challenged by stereotypes and stigma, even within my Hispanic-Latino community.” One of her favorite quotes captures the driving force behind her pursuit of education: “I can’t afford the luxury of being closed-minded.” Her advice to students is something that she learned from her mother: “Ask questions. It’s better to stay ignorant for five minutes than to stay ignorant for the rest of your life.”
Carolina’s dedication to her continued professional development is paying off. One month ago, she became a full-time employee at Frederick Memorial Hospital as a CHW and Spanish Community Interpreter.
Abdul Fatah Waziri – Refugee Social Service Employment Program with the Ethiopian Community Development Council
Mr. Abdul Fateh Waziri moved to the United States on a Special Immigration Visa (SIV) program. He participated in the Refugee Social Service (RSS) Employment Program with the Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC) in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Mr. Waziri has a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering and more than five years of experience in construction quality control projects. While he had a lot of professional certificates from Afghanistan, he needed to fine-tune his resume to demonstrate his skills and expertise. Mr. Waziri stated that following his intake with ECDC, he received job training to assist him with resume and cover letter writing, understanding job sites, and U.S work culture. Following this, he began working with the ECDC Business Engagement team, which connected him to a network of local employers.
As a result, Mr. Waziri started an entry-level job as a technician in a construction company in June 2020. In September 2020, he received a job offer that fits his skill level, working as a quality control manager in Maryland – the same position he held in Afghanistan. Mr. Waziri states that he loves this new job.
"I had a lot of experience in Afghanistan, but not a lot of experience in the U.S.," Mr. Waziri stated. "If I were speaking to someone newly coming, I'd tell them to make sure they have their certifications but be prepared to start in an entry-level position and work their way up." Mr. Waziri noted that this could be very confusing to someone who recently arrived.
While Mr. Waziri worked with ECDC's employment team, he was extremely independent in his job search. He still benefited from the job search training, interview preparation, and hiring events advertised by ECDC.
Additionally, he validated that the job search process can often be confusing for recent arrivals, who must quickly understand the United States' job market norms and procedures. He has been very grateful to find a job he enjoys so much and confirms that others like him may benefit from other ECDC employment services.
EARN Maryland Training Opportunity Supports Tesfaye's ReEntry into BioTech Industry
Tesfaye immigrated to America from Ethiopia in late 2019. With both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in biology and more than ten years of experience as a laboratory technician, he felt confident that his employment transition would be seamless. The COVID-19 pandemic exasperated his ability to find a position that aligned with his education and experience. He enrolled in an EARN Maryland biotech bootcamp offered by Montgomery College, which provided lectures and hands-on training. He found the resume assistance and mock interview sessions particularly helpful. Soon after completing training, he was offered a full-time position with a local biotech company.