Anna Zamudio Has Achieved Big Goals Since First Visiting the Monarch Family Success Center
For Anna Zamudio, Inspira’s Monarch Family Success Center has been a partner in her success for nearly a decade. The team has helped her achieve a string of goals that she set for herself.
"Honestly, if it weren't for them, I don't know where I'd be now. I don't know what I would have done," said Anna, who lives in Vineland. "They helped push me through school. They motivated me to keep going."
New Jersey’s Family Success Centers are funded by the New Jersey Department of Children and Families. In Anna’s home county of Cumberland, Inspira Health manages and staffs three Family Success Centers.
It was 2012 when Anna first walked into the Monarch Family Success Center, ready to volunteer as a member of New Jersey Youth Corps. She had no idea the team there would become an invaluable resource as she set goals for herself over the next nine years. From attending college, to finding a career to buying her own home, the Success Center team was always there and ready to help.
Even though Anna first came to the center as a volunteer, the staff immediately made it known that they could assist her with her goals. Anna was 17 and expecting her first child; she knew that earning her GED was important. The team offered their support, and Anna passed the GED exam. When her baby was born, they assisted with baby clothes and helped her find childcare.
Even as a new mom, Anna was focused on starting a career. The Success Center was able to support her by providing computer access and help with crafting her resume. After completing all the coursework and training requirements, she was hired as a medical assistant by CompleteCare Health Network, where she worked for four years.
In 2018, the Success Center helped her revise her resume and even helped find a job opening at Weisman Children's, a community-based specialty healthcare organization that provides inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation and medical day care.
In fall 2020, Anna began attending classes at Rowan College of South Jersey - Cumberland Campus, where she is studying to become a registered nurse. When she applied for admission, the Success Center team was there to help Anna navigate the college financial aid process.
One year later, the Success Center helped Anna connect with a real estate agent who worked with her to find and purchase her first home.
Looking back over the past 9 years, Anna is grateful for all of the support she has received from the team at Monarch Family Success Center.
Anna is particularly grateful to Ann Mulvihill, a family partner at the Success Center, who has always been there for her.
"Over the years, I have gone through some rough patches – she always helped me. We had a fire last year, and Ann helped me with getting Christmas gifts for the kids. So grateful that I met all of them over there [at the Success Center].”
For the team at the Success Center, Anna’s achievements are a source of inspiration. As they see it, each goal she achieved was the result of her hard work, her talent and her determination.
“There was something about Anna that I saw in her when I first met her,” said Ann Mulvihill. “She was so willing to move forward in life and do the work with guidance. Anna has proven to her children and herself that anything is possible in life if you work hard.”
