Those of us who’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Claudine are enjoying her immensely. Here’s what’s happened so far. Her work authorization card arrived early this month, and she’s applying for jobs. In May she’ll complete a final college course for a degree in Paralegal Studies, the field in which she worked in Cameroon. She’s joined an ESL class at the Dover Adult Learning Center. Her English is already quite good, but she feels she needs more fluency for a paralegal job.
One of the Holy Trinity volunteers is helping her in writing two resumes, one for work as a CNA (which is what she did in Massachusetts when she first arrived in the US), and a second to eventually apply for a paralegal position. Volunteers from Portsmouth’s Temple Israel are researching how to transfer her Massachusetts CNA license to New Hampshire and are getting her connected to medical care and health insurance.
Claudine lives in a “safe home” with a family in Dover. Safe homes are provided by volunteers at no cost until the person being companioned qualifies for work and has an income. During January, February, and March members at Temple Israel contributed $200.00 a month to help with Claudine’s food costs. Holy Trinity would like to do the same for April, May, and June. If you’d like to contribute, give whatever amount through an extra offering, making sure we know it’s for Claudine.