Dracut- Based Health Career Training School Gives Hope to Hundreds of Immigrant Workers

Graduates of the 3 Dimensions Health Services career training school in Dracut, Massachusetts proudly display their hard earned certificates during a past graduation ceremony.The school is offering a fast 3-weeks Nurses Aide course that is proving popular with students wishing to get a fast track absorption in the ever growing and better paying medical field careers. H.Maina/Ajabu Media

By Harrison Maina: Ajabu Africa News, posted May 23, 2011

DRACUT-Mass.,_Many immigrants to the USA are known to be hard workers who want nothing more than to improve their economic conditions in their new environments and those of relatives left behind swimming in abject poverty mostly in underdeveloped countries. 

 Working two to three jobs on end, these workers have come to maintain a much needed flow of hard earned money to these countries, in some cases, like in Kenya, becoming the leading foreign exchange earners.

 According to the most recent reports by the Central bank of Kenya, Kenyans living in the Diaspora sent about Kenya shillings 16.7 billion in the first quarter of 2011, an increase of 37% over the same period last year.

The spike in remittances was credited to widespread global economic recovery as Kenyans living abroad made enough to finance their lives in foreign countries and manage to send a chunk home either to support their families through education and other needs or for investment purposes.

   "The performance reflects continued economic recovery in source markets," said the CBK director of research Charles Koori. "The source markets for remittances have on average maintained the same shares with North America contributing 53 per cent and Europe 27 per cent of total remittances," added Mr. Koori as quoted by media reports.

  No wonder  when the prime Minister of Kenya, Hon. Raila Odinga, during a recent visit to meet Kenyans in Boston for an event to honor the Boston Marathon runners, said that the Kenyan government no longer invites Kenyans living abroad to go back home as professionals  to take up leadership roles.

 “We no longer want you to come back home. Stay here but keep sending the money”, said the premier, amusing many in attendance. However, we appreciate the role you are playing in sending the much needed money to help your families and out economy”, Hon. Raila added to sooth the Kenyans.

The same scenario that is playing out among the Kenyans in the Diaspora is the same thing that is happening among other African immigrants in the USA as well as those from other continents.

They are all playing an increasingly leading role at leading their countries from the shackles of poverty through repatriating some of the money they make in America to their countries, with Uganda and Ghana being some of the shining examples.

 However, making enough money to cater for the relentless bills characterizing life in America and saving some to send your people home can be a daunting task especially for those with low or no skills at all in a depressed economy.

When a new immigrant reached America from a country with a totally different economic set up, they often find it difficult to get any job they are qualified to do, even if they held professional jobs back in their countries.

  The situation is made more complicated with the massive layoff that have seen  millions of workers loose their jobs  recently in the USA due to the economic recession that the US is trying to climb out of.

For a new immigrant, or for a newly laid off professional, to regain footing in life often requires them to get entry level jobs  many of them found in the healthcare and human services industry.

Former Red Cross office building at 61 Harvard st in Worcester hosting the Newly opened 3 Dimensions Health Services Worcester campus

Projected by economists as one of the industries that will continue growing rapidly in the future with the massive retiring of millions of baby boomers, a wide array of jobs available in the health care industry in the USA has attracted many new immigrants and laid off professionals who do not mind starting with the lowest paying jobs like nursing aides.

 Operating in an environment that offers a regular and consistent paycheck and big opportunities for professional growth, many of these ambitious workers can usually turn into highly paying careers like professional nurses or nurse practitioners, some of whom are pushing the frontiers into health care provision businesses.

This way, they can afford to support their lifestyles in America while sending some money back to their countries.

But to get started in the health care field requires a willing worker to get some sort of entry level training which in itself is not easy considering the myriad of problems and baggage many of these immigrants and laid off workers bring to the table.

Among such problems  is the difficulty to  afford the roughly $500 to $1,000 required by most health career training schools for books and tuition to see them through a course like nursing assistant training.

 Man of these willing workers resort to borrowing the funds from friends with a promise to pay back as soon as practically possible.

  This means the speed of training for these jobs and the eventual finding of a job is extremely important which is not so common with many schools.
 
However, one health career training school in Massachusetts has found a niche at filling this need for most immigrants and in many cases laid off professional looking to be retooled for health services industry.

 With offices in Dracut and Worcester,   areas that have a high concentration of immigrant populations from Africa and beyond, 3 dimensions Health Services has been providing entry level training services to many people  since it was incepted in 2005.

 The school has recently proven effective at quick turn around for those looking for quick training to get their first job for those who graduate from their popular 3 week intensive course that lead to entry level jobs in the medical field.

 Privately owned by African entrepreneurs, 3 Dimensions Health also goes the extra mile by organizing job fairs at their graduation ceremonies where potential employers come to recruit new hires among the graduates.

 According to school administrators, many of these employers who hire graduates from 3 Dimensions Health Services are opting to offer the new workers further training to advanced level medical services courses like the LPN and the RN at the employers cost.

 The school boasts of a 95% graduation and a 100% job placement rate   for all those who sign up for training.
 
  During an interview with Ajabu Africa News, school administrators said that the school has also been approved by the state of Massachusetts to run programs that offer needy students assistance with tuition and books as they undergo training.

 Among the state funded programs available for students at 3 dimensions include the career Center in Lowell where interested students can get tuition and books depending on their level of need.

 The school is also approved by the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) section 30 to which offers assistance to qualified applicants providing from tuition and books through the State Career Centers located in various cities in Massachusetts.
 
 The school also offers payment plants for students with financial challenges interested at joining their campus located at 1934 Lakeview Avenue in Dracut, a stone throw away from Downtown Lowell, and 61 Harvard st in Worcester.

 School administrators told Ajabu Media that the school has been graduating an average of 10 students a month consistently over the last 5 years with a 98% passing rate among their graduates according to records by the department of public health.

 With a 1:10 student to teacher ratio, 3 dimensions Health Services is rapidly becoming one of the health career training schools in Massachusetts that is contributing to increased incomes among new immigrants and laid- off workers who in return are able to support their families here in the US and back in their motherlands.

 It has also contributed to create jobs in the struggling economy by adding several jobs in the teaching and school administrative staff.

Currently, the school is taking new students for the 3 weeks Nurses Aide course.
 Other entry level programs offered at the school include First Aid, CPR, MAP and even a CNA Refresher course.

  Interested students can register by filling up a registration from the school’s website (www.3dimensionshealth.com ) or by calling the school at 978 -735-4451.

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