Supporting future health care workers in the Eastern Townships
Since 2009, Townshippers’ Association’s two community health and social services networks have been partnering with Dialogue Mcgill to help recruit and retain bilingual health and social service workers for the Eastern Townships region. Since 2011, the Association has been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to distribute $95,000 in bursaries to bilingual post-secondary students from the Montérégie-east region who were studying full-time in the fields of health and social services and who planned to return to the Townships to begin their careers.
As the upcoming academic year approaches, we are thrilled to announce that this year we will be distributing a minimum of four bursaries to health and social services students from our two community networks. In today’s article, we would like to introduce you to the two bursary recipients for the Montérégie-east network. We offer our sincere congratulations to Echo Parentracine and Anna Laflamme, and we wish them all the best in their future careers! Read on to get to know these two ambitious and dedicated health care workers.
ECHO PARENT-RACINE
Originally from Cowansville, Echo has both an undergraduate and a graduate degree in social work, and she has been working in the field of social work for over a decade. Recently, though, she decided to broaden her knowledge and skills by starting an applied master’s degree in couple and family therapy at Mcgill University in the fall of 2021. Echo says she has always wanted to work with children and families, and her own personal and work experiences have guided her towards this career path.
As an indigenous student of Mohawk and Innu identity, Echo also wishes to deconstruct inequalities and continue to support vulnerable or marginalized persons, with the goal of ensuring that the quality of services people receive is high and is offered in a safe manner that best meets their needs. Echo is dedicated to helping improve the service offering in her community by working to remove some of the barriers that block access to services for vulnerable and marginalized groups.
Throughout the years, Echo has also been an active volunteer in her community, volunteering through the United Church of Canada in both Dunham and Cowansville and for the Brome County Fair between 2008 and 2012. Her dedication, sensitivity, and compassion as a couple and family therapist will no doubt benefit the entire community.
ANNA LAFLAMME
A nurse in training, Anna Laflamme will begin working towards a bachelor’s degree in nursing this fall at the Université de Sherbrooke. Anna has recently completed a DEC in nursing at Champlain College and she will be joining the college’s mentorship program in the fall to help new students adapt to the program, to the career, and to college life. Originally from Farnham, Anna also works at the CHSLD in Bedford, where she sometimes stays beyond her regular
work shift so that she can play cards with the residents or paint their nails!
This summer, Anna is working as a candidate for the practice of the nursing profession (CEPI) at the Brome-missisquoi Perkins Hospital in Cowansville. She plans to continue working there throughout her university studies. In her clinical experiences so far, Anna has already seen examples of how language can become a barrier between a health care provider and a patient, and she feels confident that she will be able to help ensure proper communication with her patients and make sure they feel understood.
Anna knows many people in her community, and she says it’s an amazing feeling to be able to work as a nurse because it is a way she can give back to her community by doing something that she absolutely loves.
In tomorrow’s Keeping in Touch
column in the Sherbrooke Record, we will introduce the two bursary winners from the Estrie region. To learn more about the Dialogue Mcgill Health and Social Services Community Leadership bursary program, visit our website: https://townshippers.org/mcgillbursary-program.
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