Apprentice Spotlight: Noor Alyassiri – Success Story

Noor Alyassiri is a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) at Villa at Parkridge in southeastern Michigan. When she first heard about the Nursing Home Stabilization Grant during a meeting in the activities room at work, she was immediately interested in the reimbursement program that could help support her family. 

"I always like to help people," Noor said when sharing her passion for caregiving. "I worked as a daycare worker, and always loved communicating with families." But like many frontline healthcare workers, Noor faced the challenge of balancing her career aspirations with financial realities of supporting a family. "I had kids, I had to be a wife, I had to be a mom, I had to be everything," she reflected. :Anything small can help with this hard, expensive life."

The reimbursement program became a game-changer for Noor's ability to stay in the workforce and pursue her goals. "The reimbursement helps me with childcare. I can be at work, and have my kids in daycare and cared for, and I don't have to worry about extra spending or finding care for my kids." 

"It encouraged me to keep on going further, instead of stopping on account of things being too expensive.  Now I have a goal for my future that helps me keep going. I have the help, and I have the support." 

The program's impact extends far beyond monthly expenses. It has helped Noor accelerate her education and career advancement. "I'm taking five classes this semester because I'm able to get that necessary help and support. If I didn't, I could've just taken two [classes] and kept going for years and years, until I couldn't afford them." The financial stability has also allowed her and her husband to achieve a major milestone—purchasing their first home last year. 

"It lifted that financial pressure from my life, and helped me manage time with my family, kids and school, Noor said. "instead of me saying. I'll just go to school next month because I can't pay this $500, I now look forward to it. "

Noor emphasizes the supportive community she's found in nursing home work, compared to larger healthcare systems. "This is the longest job I’ve stayed with, because they have all the support and benefits that can really help you. Not a lot of jobs have reimbursements. I've worked in big companies like hospitals and stuff, and they don't give those big benefits that help through everything." 

For others considering or even struggling in healthcare careers, Noor's advice is simple: "You need to be positive. Even if negative things come towards me, I try to take a positive look at it. If you have the support, it can happen." 

Care workers like Noor provide essential services while often managing complex personal responsibilities. By providing worker-centered benefits that address real-life challenges, like childcare and education costs, programs like this help dedicated caregivers not just survive, but thrive in their careers and achieve their long-term goals.