Adelard Lilimo left war torn Democratic Republic of Congo with the dream of practicing his profession of surgical nurse in the United States. Now, thanks to his own determination and multiple people from many organizations in the refugee and immigrant services community, Adelard is working at the University of Colorado Hospital and is well on his way to realizing this dream.

Upon arrival in the U.S., Adelard faced a series of obstacles. In the DRC, where he had worked as a surgical nurse, Adelard spoke French, Lingala, Kiswahili and Kikongo, but not English. With the help of Emily Griffith Technical College, Adelard enrolled in ESL courses and was able to improve his English language skills. Soon, Adelard’s needs for income became very real, and he turned his focus to obtaining a paying job. Carrying a stack of photos, which graphically illustrated his experience caring for severely injured patients in a DRC Emergency Room, Adelard came to Colorado Welcome Back, a program of Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning. His passion to help victims of suffering was an obvious driving force in his career. Colorado Welcome Back helped Adelard develop a long-term plan for getting back to his profession of a surgical nurse. He was then referred to Goodwill Industries. Goodwill utilized their connections within the community to land Adelard his first paying job in the U.S. While this position was not in the healthcare field, it allowed Adelard to practice his English in the workplace and gain valuable customer service experience. Intent on furthering his professional skills, Adelard attended skills development workshops offered by Colorado Welcome Back and prepared himself to re-enter the healthcare field. Through a chance meeting with a local pastor, Adelard landed his first healthcare position as a Certified Nurse’s Aid (CNA) at a home health facility. However, Adelard’s dreams did not stop there. With the help of the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR), he was able to secure his current position as a Pre-Operative Service Assistant at the University of Colorado Hospital.

In just a few months, multiple organizations and individuals came together and invested in Adelard’s success. Still, none of Adelard’s progress would have been realized without his incomparable determination and fortitude. As Adelard says, “I know I have so much to offer as a surgical nurse. I hope that I will be able to do this work again in my new country.” Knowing Adelard, his path to success will continue and will inspire other refugees to hold on to their professional aspirations. We at Colorado Welcome Back look forward to continued collaboration with our partner organizations, to supporting Adelard on his professional journey and for many future success stories like his for refugees and immigrants in Colorado!

Who?
Experienced healthcare providers, currently employed or retired from their jobs (doctors, nurses, dentists, vets, lab technicians, social workers, etc.) willing to be mentors to their foreign-trained colleagues.

What?
Mentoring engagement with a carefully matched foreign-trained healthcare professional. What is requested is a time commitment of 2-4 hours a month, willingness to help, curiosity and openness to other cultures, patience and supportive attitude. Mentoring training will be provided. Many rewards include the immense sense of satisfaction in being a part of a team effort that gets a foreign-trained professional back on track to practicing medicine, meeting other volunteers, and learning about foreign cultures. Your knowledge of the US health care system, professional expectations and career options will help the fellow foreign-trained health professional reach his/her full potential in his/her new country.

Why?
Colorado is home to many highly skilled and educated refugees and other immigrants who are finding it very challenging to re-launch their healthcare careers in the US. Some of the barriers include lack of understanding of the US healthcare system, lack of access to professional networks, in addition to re-licensing requirements, essentially repeating the academic efforts they had already completed, an extremely competitive process of applying for residency programs, and/or other healthcare jobs.
Where?
Most of the Colorado Welcome Back participants reside in the Metro Denver area. We are looking to match a select group of them with mentors who also reside in the Metro Denver area.

COLORADO WELCOME BACK is a non-profit program helping foreign trained health care professionals re-establish careers in health care in Colorado. It seeks to build a bridge between the pool of internationally trained health workers living in our state and the need for linguistically and culturally competent health care providers. The program is managed by Spring Institute for Cultural Learning and is one of 10 Welcome Back Centers in the US. COLORADO WELCOME BACK is funded by the Colorado Refugees Services Program, Kaiser Foundation and the Colorado Health Foundation. There is no fee to the participants and the program helps them obtain the required licensing, evaluate options, assists in developing career plans, and helps obtain interim positions in the healthcare field while they are pursing their “bigger” career goals.

COLORADO WELCOME BACK offers foreign-trained participants from dozens of countries in the world free seminars, workshops, to prepare then for their career pursuit – training participants to successfully interview, write a professional resume, cover letter, etc.