Doris Martinez was just a kid when her family moved here from Puerto Rico.
Her grandmother was diagnosed with cancer and there were hospice nurses going to their home to provide care but none of the nurses could speak Spanish.
"So one of us always had to be there to help translate and, you know, we were kids back then so us translating for a nurse a medical diagnosis was hard and there were things that were lost in translation," Doris said.
Years later, her family launched Cuidado Casero, which offers home health and hospice services in English and Spanish. But in hopes of giving back to the community and helping to create a pipeline of bilingual nurses, the family eventually created the Cuidado Casero Foundation.
"We provide scholarships, mentoring and leadership conferences for Spanish speakers who want to become nurses," Doris said.
Bilingual nurses are desperately needed and the Cuidado Casero Foundation has partnered with Tarrant County Community College to recruit bilingual students and grow the school's nursing program.
The Tarrant County Community College hosted the foundations first Leadership Conference and matches dollar for dollar any money the Cuidado Casero Foundation raises for scholarships.
The scholarships have proven life changing for some students like Alexa Chinchilla, whose family came from Guatemela. As one of eight children to a single mother with only a first grade education, Alexa's dream of becoming a nurse in the United States was laughable to others who deemed it impossible to realize. Instead, with the help of her scholarship and support from the Cuidado Casero Foundation, Alexa was accepted into the R.N. to B.S.N. program at Texas Tech.
We're proud to call Cuidado Casero Foundation this week's KRLD Difference Maker.
To donate or help go to Cuidado Casero Foundation.
If you know someone making a difference in the community, send us email at differencemaker@krld.com.
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