WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT The wait for an in-person interview


with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) was exhausting. Car- ranceja expected a six-month wait, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused a delay. She used the time to finalize paperwork, and with help from residents, she stayed ready for the tests by practicing and quizzing. The day finally arrived in September


2020. “I was excited and nervous at the same time, because after waiting for so long it is finally the day that would change my life completely,” Carranceja recalls thinking. She says her voice trembled through the in- terview and tests. But she passed. Her first moments as a U.S. citizen were


spent reflecting on her motivation to become a citizen and the program that had made it possible. “I just cried, and I said thank you, God, for this opportunity,” she says.


A Place of Welcome Given the size of the immigrant population at Goodwin Living and in the senior living work- force overall, Valerie Burke, chief philanthro- py officer of the Goodwin Living Foundation, says the organization’s citizenship program is one tool that can help to address the labor shortfall now and in the future. “We’ve got team members who struggle,


they work two and three jobs, and they're trying to educate their children and them- selves. It takes a lot of money to save up $725,” observes Burke. “We are in a workforce crisis today, and


we will be for the next 20 years,” Burke notes, pointing to the slowing birth rate and rising senior population. Indeed, due to the combined effects of


population aging and the slowing birth rate, the U.S. Census projects that by 2030 immi- gration will become the primary means of U.S. population increase, even as the rate of immigration remains relatively static. The U.S. Census analysis further projects 72% of the foreign-born population, but only 56% of the native-born population, to be between the working ages of 18 and 64 by 2030. Total employment in the combined se-


nior care industry is expected to near 8.3 million by 2040, according to a new report from Argentum, Workforce Projections for Senior Care Sectors. If projections hold the industry will pick up an additional 2.4


44 SENIOR LIVING EXECUTIVE JULY/AUGUST 2023


million jobs. The greatest need for hiring, however, will stem from the nearly 17.8 million positions expected to turn over in that period. Accounting for job growth and attrition, the total number of needed employees is 20.2 million over two decades. In addition to the benefits of its citizenship


program directly, Burke says Goodwin Living aims to be “an intentional place of welcome” through its actions. “Just being a place where we know more about you, we can pronounce names, and we care about people’s families, I think that’s important, the culture piece – and just really caring – residents to team members, team members to residents and team members to team members.”


Culture for Care Today, Mirabel Carranceja continues as dining services supervisor, a role that allows her to form strong bonds with residents and to identify those who can benefit from ex- tra attention. Sometimes, she notices that a resident doesn’t have anyone living nearby. “I give them more time and more care, be- cause I know that they need people like us to care for them.” It is an unfortunate reality that close, per-


sonal relationships with residents frequently lead to grief. Carranceja recalls the first time it happened to her. “At first, I promised my- self that I'm not going to be close to anyone anymore,” says Carranceja. Unable to hold back tears, she says, “But I failed.” Carranceja told herself, “It’s not gonna


work that way. I said, if you wanted to not feel that way, you should just quit your job, because this job is not for you.” She esti- mates that she has been close to at least 100 residents who have died since that time.


‘The Time of Our Life’ Most of the residents who volunteer to tutor workers pursuing naturalization have never taught before, but resident Judy Hansen has that covered. As coordinator of the tutoring program,


Hansen not only pairs students with tutors, she also works to help tutors be effective teachers. It’s a big job. “I’ve got 22 residents on my list who want to tutor or who are tutoring right now,” she says. “We have six pairings right now, meaning six residents and six team members who are working together.


Just in the last month-and-a-half or so, two of our team members have become new cit- izens working with a resident to help them.” “I think we are throwing on its head the


stereotype of seniors who are in a continu- ing care retirement community,” she ob- serves. “There are a lot of people my age, younger and older, who are still vibrant and intellectual and have these really fascinating and interesting careers and who find tutor- ing to be a wonderful thing.” Hansen’s own career certainly qualifies


as fascinating. It started in a social studies classroom but eventually took her to In- dia, then to Eastern Europe, including to Ukraine and Moldova, where she was an advisor to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). After retirement, she served as an English as a second lan- guage (ESL) tutor for the Literacy Council in Northern Virginia and at the Blue Ridge Literacy Council in North Carolina, which also operated a citizenship program. Hansen has tutored one student herself


as part of the Goodwin Living citizenship program. “When I was asked to tutor, I thought, this is a natural. I would just love to be able to do this,” says Hansen. Due to COVID-19 restrictions at the


time, Hansen was not able to join her stu- dent, Haja Kamara, when she took her oath as a naturalized citizen, but Kamara sent Hansen a selfie from the ceremony. “The next day, Haja was at my door with


her voter registration application in one hand, which I had given to her, and her passport ap- plication in the other hand,” recounts Hansen. “She said I want your help to fill these out to be sure I’m doing them correctly. Haja voted for the first time in the next election, and she was very proud of the fact that she had done that.” Hansen says she would love to tutor again,


but she wants everyone who has volunteered to have that experience, because “It is ex- traordinarily rewarding. I think the benefit that not a lot of us really thought about when we got into it was the fact that we’d become such good friends with these individuals. “We are having the time of our life. And


part of it is being intellectually challenged and feeling that we are doing something for our community and something for these individuals that are really so interested in becoming a citizen.”


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