HPOG Success Story: CB at Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Inc.

Anchorage, Alaska

People. Partnership. Potential.

These are the three tenets that guide the Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CITC) in Alaska. They are also the motivators that connected a driven and conscientious member of Anchorage’s Alaskan Native community with Healthcare Training Program at CITC, an HPOG program funded by the Office of Family Assistance.

For nearly a decade, this woman, CB, has worked tirelessly for non-profits serving the Native Alaska community while also taking certification and licensing courses in real estate, professional development, and management.

Advancing her own prospects was not the only motivation behind taking on so much responsibility, and she was looking for a more hands-on way to make a medical impact on those in the Alaskan Native community.

CB started exploring opportunities to become a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). After researching grant funding opportunities that could help cover the cost of her training, she came across the HPOG Healthcare Training Program at CITC. Alex, the program’s training coordinator helped her negotiate eligibility and entry into the program. “When I met with Alex, he was excited about the HPOG program as I was,” CB explains. “Alex was there every step of the way answering any questions I had.” After entering the program, she began taking courses at a highly regarded CNA school where the HPOG program provided her with material support in the form of scrubs and skid-resistant shoes. CB says her fellow students who had complications that would otherwise have prevented them from attending classes also received HPOG help. “I heard others attending the courses had assistance with transportation, child care, and, if eligible, food.”

After receiving her CNA degree, CB was hired at Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage where she works as a CNA/Unit Secretary in the Emergency Room. CB continues to raise the bar on her occupational goals. She has plans to apply to the University of Alaska Anchorage’s School of Nursing, or similar program, to become a Registered Nurse. While she is bringing enthusiasm and commitment to the medical field, she is also keeping her heart with the Alaskan Native community.

“I will be dedicated to my goal of providing quality CNA care to my community in a setting that I have experience and knowledge, Tribal Health or other healthcare setting; and although there may be challenges ahead in the general field of healthcare and I look forward to getting to work, I’m excited and I am ready for the challenges that lay ahead of me.”