Creating stronger healthcare in rural Alberta

Cheneise works as a registration clerk across five rural Alberta hospitals. Her work helps patients access care in Lacombe, Innisfail, Olds, Sundre and Three Hills. At home, her new career provides something just as meaningful: stability for her three children.  

“We’ve been able to keep a roof over our head and food on the table,” she says.  

Cheneise, a Métis learner, chose NorQuest’s Unit Clerk program while caring for her newborn. Online learning allowed her to stay home with him and complete her coursework around her family’s needs. Instead of asking her baby to fit around a classroom schedule, she could fit school into the rhythms of family life.  

After completing her practicum, Cheneise had not yet secured a job. Your endowment helped her household meet its needs while she interviewed. It also gave her time to pursue work in the field she had trained for, rather than taking the first available position.  

She soon turned her NorQuest training and practicum relationships into employment. Beyond her hospital work, she now volunteers as a mentor to new mothers in the Red Deer area, offering support informed by her own experiences.  

Cheneise sees a powerful connection between your work and your generosity: “The donor builds houses, and because of this award, I was able to keep a roof over my head.”  

Through this endowment, that support will continue. It will give future students room to finish their education, find meaningful work and build stability for the people who depend on them. Cheneise says "thank you" does not carry the full weight of what your award meant to her household. Thank you for helping her keep a roof over her family while she built a more secure future beneath it.