“This is my dream come true,” says May Aide of the Month Kwabena Appiah. Kwabena emigrated from Ghana to the U.S. in September of 2019 and has only been working for CCOR for three months. In that short time, however, he has found a true home in CCOR, doing the work he feels he was meant to do.
Kwabena is from Accra, the capitol of Ghana, where he had been working in the health care industry for 14 years. He also cared for his father until his death five years ago on Valentine’s Day. Caring for his father helped him to know that this was what he was meant to do. “This is the work that God had planned for me, the health care work.”
Kwabena was drawn to the United States because many of his family members live here, most of them in Rochester. His brothers and sisters who still live in Ghana are planning to come to the U.S. in the future. His strongest reason for coming to America was his mother. She came to the United States in 2004 and worked as a certified nursing assistant in Chicago, moving to Rochester two years ago.
Although Kwabena applied for desk jobs and factory jobs, his heart was in home care. “This is the work I promised myself when I come to the States I would do it. I promised myself to do the health care work.” Working for CCOR became his first job in the U.S., and he has found CCOR to be a caring, open company. “I like CCOR because they are friendly, and I like the way they give you information. The way they talk to the employees, the way they communicate with them…I like it.” And when Kwabena’s mother suggested working for more than one company, Kwabena’s reply was, “I’m working with this nice company. I don’t feel like adding any company to what I am doing now. Any hours I want to work, they give me.
Kwabena feels lucky to have found CCOR, but we are even more lucky to have a capable, compassionate worker like him. “When you’re doing [home care] work for somebody,” he says, “you got to do it from your heart. I do it from my heart. I try to know the client’s needs, so that when I’m with them, I know what to do. I don’t find the work hard.”
Kwabena’s strong faith is what inspires and motivates him to do his best. “I believe in God. I always pray before coming to work. I don’t remember a day I didn’t pray before coming to work.” When he’s not working, Kwabena enjoys a simple life, listening to gospel music and attending church.
It is truly heartwarming to see that CCOR can help a dream like Kwabena’s to come true. And it is people like Kwabena who make CCOR the warm and caring company it is. “If you say you want to do health care,” he advises, “you got to do it from your heart.”
Comments