Woman's Missionary Union helps mother of three continue nursing journey

Giselle Gonzalez-Rivera said she wondered if she was crazy going back to school in her late 30s with three young children.

But she found a group that encouraged her — Moving Forward Chattanooga, a Christian Women’s Job Corps site — and in April she finished her licensed practical nurse certificate at Chattanooga State Community College.

“Christian Women’s Job Corps encouraged and supported me so much,” she said of the group, which helps women with skills for life and work. “They saw the potential in me that I had not seen.”

Beth Ray, site coordinator for Moving Forward Chattanooga, said Gonzalez-Rivera “gives God glory for the whole process.”

“Giselle is a blessing to anyone she meets. She always has a smile and a kind word,” Ray said. “She’s a super sweet person with a sweet family, and she’s grown in her faith.”

When Gonzalez-Rivera came to Moving Forward Chattanooga, she began working on six weeks of personal development, which included communication and financial management. That was followed by six more weeks of career prep. As part of that, she took an inventory to help her identify careers that interested her, and site leaders helped her find educational resources and funding for school.

Ray said in Gonzalez-Rivera’s early days there, she was shy and reserved, but she “has really blossomed since.”

Several weeks after finishing her licensed practical nurse certificate in April, Gonzalez-Rivera was named the recipient of the Sybil Bentley Dove Award, which Woman’s Missionary Union gives annually to someone who desires to improve herself through the acquisition of skills or academic pursuits that will lead to self-reliant living or assist in the development of her children.

Christian Women’s and Men’s Job Corps are compassion ministries of WMU and have more than 100 sites across the U.S. that offer the chance for participants to gain life skills in a Christian context.

This summer, Gonzalez-Rivera started the bridge program to begin classes this fall at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to become a registered nurse. She said the Sybil Bentley Dove Award came at the perfect time.

“It has helped me so much,” she said. “When they gave me the award, I said, ‘Thank you Lord, this is all You — You saw how much I was in need.’”

Gonzalez-Rivera said she’s always had a heart to help others and knew that was her calling.

“It is never too late to accomplish your purpose in life — some of us just move a little slower than others, and that is totally normal,” she said. “We are afraid of the outcome instead of trusting our Savior.”

Gonzalez-Rivera said she has learned to teach her three girls that with God, there are no limits to what they can do.

“We can reach the sky if we trust the Lord, and He will guide us,” she said.

To learn more about CWJC, visit wmu.com/jobcorps.