Mission Health, A-B Tech name "Mission Grows" scholarship recipients

Mission Health and A-B Tech have announced eight recipients of the “Mission Grows” CNA-I scholarship. The competitive program was open to Mission Health staff and their dependents, participants in Mission’s student programs including School At Work®, Mission Possible and Students@Work, and area high school students and community members.

The scholarship covers full costs for the CNA-I certification program at A-B Tech, including tuition, books, uniform and other required equipment. Award recipients are able to select the CNA program schedule (based on availability) that best fits their individual needs, with classes held initially at the A-B Tech campus on Victoria Road, and later in 2016, on the Mission Health campus. The students’ clinical rotations will be offered at Mission Health, and upon successful completion they will be fast-tracked for CNA-I roles at Mission.

“We are so pleased to be able to partner with A-B Tech to offer this program to our staff and to the community,” said Sheila Meadows, VP of Human Resources and System Talent Management at Mission Health. “Our goal is to identify great people who already work for Mission, as well as those who will make exceptional future employees, and to grow our own highly qualified caregivers by giving them a boost on their educational journey.”

Sarah Lee is a current Mission employee who was tapped for one of the full scholarships. “I appreciate the selection committee identifying me as a recipient of this scholarship to help me accomplish my goals,” said Lee, who has been employed at Mission since 2012. “I started in Mission’s Environmental Services department with a desire to grow within the hospital. In my current role as a dual skills technician, I help monitor patients and communicate with nurses, as well as supporting the unit by responding to phone calls, call bells and more. These positions have placed a desire for me to move into the clinical side of the hospital to help provide care for our patients, and this scholarship will help me move my career into nursing.”

Latasha Johnson is not a current Mission employee, but sees this scholarship as an opportunity to develop personally and professionally as a member of the Asheville community. “My career vision is to one day work as a nurse providing affordable healthcare to marginalized communities,” said Johnson. “Without Mission Health awarding me a full scholarship to attend A-B Tech’s nursing assistant program, I could never have the opportunity to achieve my career goals at this time.”

“These scholarships represent the very best in a long partnership between A-B Tech as an educational institution, and Mission Health as a significant employer for our region,” said Christina Lang, Coordinator for Health Occupations at A-B Tech. “Together, we are helping to assure a well-trained workforce to fill high-demand roles in our community.”

Besides Lee and Johnson, other Mission Grows scholarship recipients include Mission staffers Mary Castaneda, Marissa Pack and Roshunda Foster; and Anna Grace Barefoot, Brittany Pressley, and Kaitlyn Brown, who are family members of Mission employees.