Working at home as a full-time wife and mother has been recognized as an honorable and rewarding job, as well as one of the most difficult. And, unfortunately, it does not come with a paycheck.
Vanessa Cantu of Brownsville watched her husband, Norberto, go to work each day as a driver for a car dealership as she cared for their three sons. Despite his commitment to his job, they struggled to make ends meet with his wages, having to rely on the government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to cover their food expenses.
In 2021, Cantu decided to return to school to become a licensed vocational nurse.
“I wanted to be a nurse because I like to work with patients and I have always wanted to work in the medical field,” Cantu said. “I needed a career to help my family financially.”
Cantu enrolled in the LVN Program at Texas Southmost College in Brownsville for the Fall 2021 semester so she could provide that help while loving her work. With financial aid assistance, everything went smoothly until her second semester when Cantu learned her financial-aid award would not cover her third and final semester, Summer 2022. She did not have the resources to make up the difference.
That’s when one of her professors at TSC told her about the Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement. For nearly 30 years, VIDA has provided financial, emotional and professional support to Rio Grande Valley residents, removing the barriers that have traditionally kept them from earning a post-secondary certificate or degree. Cantu applied and gained acceptance into VIDA, allowing her to enroll for her final semester and complete the LVN Program, graduating in August.
“Without VIDA, I wouldn’t have been able to finish because of my financial situation,” Cantu said. “VIDA was able to help me pay for tuition and buy uniforms and the stethoscope I needed to train and practice my skills.”
Cantu is currently studying for the NCLEX-PN, the national exam to become a licensed LVN. But that’s not her finish line.
Cantu’s plan is to enroll in TSC’s Associate Degree Nursing Program, complete it and then earn her bachelor’s degree in nursing. She has set a goal to become a registered nurse and, eventually, a nurse practitioner. And Cantu already has her sights on where she wants to work: Valley Baptist Medical Center.
Being a full-time wife and mother is difficult enough, but adding “student” to her responsibilities made Cantu’s job even tougher.
“Thanks to the VIDA Program, I was able to finish,” she said. “The counselors were very helpful and so were the sessions.” VIDA’s wrap-around approach, adding individual and group counseling sessions to the financial support, is a primary reason for its participants’ success.
With VIDA’s help, Cantu will now not only be able to help support her family financially, but she will also serve as an example to her three young sons about the importance of education, diligence, persistence and setting — and reaching — goals.