Coming from Haiti with no work experience, Gertrude’s first job was in the kitchen at McLean Hospital in Belmont. Working in that environment inspired her to get certified as a nursing assistant and find a job working the overnight shift at Tuel Nursing Home in Melrose. While working full time and studying English at The Immigrant Learning Center, she took another job at a nursing home in Woburn.

Three days a week, she started work in Woburn after school, then on to Melrose at 11:00 PM. The next morning, she stopped at home to take a shower and change clothes before coming back to The ILC to start over again. Gertrude kept up this grueling schedule because she believed the only way to make a comfortable life for her family was to improve her English, and so she did.