“I remember thinking to myself there has to be a better way.”- Dr. Paula Garay.

在宝拉五岁的时候，她的母亲离开智利去了美国，把她的四个孩子留给家人照顾。 她的母亲在接下来的七年里做了好几份工作，以支持她在智利的家人，希望她能把她的孩子带到美国。 Paula’s mother went for more than three years without taking a day off from work. “I didn’t see my mother for seven years. That’s part of my trauma. I’ve had a tug of war with myself about it, especially now that I’ve had my own three babies.”

宝拉12岁时来到美国和母亲在一起。 她以非法移民的身份来到美国，面对着在美国的生活和学校，同时又重新认识了她的母亲。 加雷博士最近接受了澳门新葡京博彩官网的采访，详细介绍了她在澳门新葡京博彩官网获得三个学位所克服的挑战。

如今，加雷博士通过位于康涅狄格州布里奇波特的OPTIMUS医疗保健管理着emme联盟，这是一个非营利组织。 emme联盟为无证件、保险不足和没有保险的妇女和女孩提供服务，帮助她们克服宝拉小时候面临的同样障碍。

“I always knew I wanted to go to college.”

当宝拉12岁来到美国时，她不会说英语。 不到六个月，她就能说英语了，到特朗布尔学校的第二年，她不再需要ESL服务了。 到高中时，她已经精通两门语言，梦想着上大学。 “I had good grades and a great SAT score, but because I didn’t have any papers, I wasn’t allowed to go to college,” says Garay. “I started exploring the idea of moving out of the country. I almost went to China because I was desperate to go to college.”

After graduating high school, Paula couldn’t go to college right away. 相反，她开始做多份工作，自费参加社区大学课程，以继续接受教育。

高中毕业后不久，宝拉发现自己有被驱逐出境的危险。 “ICE was looking for me to send me back to Chile. I ended up finding this amazing lawyer who helped me get my papers, so I didn’t get deported.” Paula had to pay for all her lawyer’s fees by herself, putting off her dream of going to college to secure her status in the United States.

“As soon as I got my papers, I enrolled in 澳门新葡京博彩官网 and started my bachelor’s degree.”

去新葡京博彩

当宝拉第一次作为一名学生来到澳门新葡京博彩官网校园时，她已经23岁了，同时打三份工。 “I was attracted to the IDEAL program at 澳门新葡京博彩官网.” At the time, the IDEAL program helped adult learners earn their bachelor’s degree with accelerated and online courses. “I was working at night as a CNA, and I had two jobs during the day,” said Paula.

While studying for her bachelor’s degree, Paula met her husband, who was studying sociology at the time. William Garay graduated with his bachelor’s degree from University of Bridgeport and is now a police Sergeant with the Stamford police department.

A few years after earning her bachelor’s degree in social services, Paula went back to earn her 澳门新葡京博彩官网工商管理硕士. “I love the fact that I have all my degrees from 新葡京博彩. I think that’s very unique. 我爱上澳门新葡京博彩官网是因为这里的教授都很棒。 I knew when I was doing my bachelor’s degree that I wanted to stay.” 宝拉很早就知道，她想和像她这样的人一起工作。 She earned her MBA and immediately began working toward her 健康科学博士学位 — all part of her plan to reach her career goals.

“I didn’t want to be a medical doctor or work in healthcare in that sense. 为了做出更大的改变，我想在医疗保健政策和医疗保健管理的幕后工作。 I needed my MBA to lead people, and the classes I took when I did my doctorate taught me things I use daily in my career today.”

宝拉想帮助那些和她小时候经历过类似情况的人。 现在，她正在这样做。

发起emme联盟

加雷博士在医学领域工作时，得知OPTIMUS Health Care正在寻找一名主管，以启动一个针对妇女和女孩的项目。 自从她第一次来到美国，她就知道她想帮助移民，加雷博士认为这是一个把她的想法带到布里奇波特的绝佳机会。

Dr. Garay launched and is now 领导擎天柱医疗保健的emme联盟. 她经营着一个项目，帮助布里奇波特的妇女和女孩克服她作为一个年轻的无证移民所面临的同样的障碍。 emme联盟为生活在康涅狄格州布里奇波特的妇女提供经济援助、资源获取、咨询服务和生活规划援助。

“Most of these women and girls are victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse. 100% of them have experienced trauma,” said Garay. 患者通过当地组织、医院、OPTIMUS Health Care和Garay在其职业生涯中建立的当地社区关系的推荐来到emme联盟。 emme联盟有一个由社区卫生工作者、项目协调员和社会工作者组成的团队，负责筛选客户并收集他们所需的服务类型和资源的数据。

为了评估这些女性的创伤程度，emme联盟提供了一系列评估。 “We see a lot of generational trauma and generational abuse. Many of these women are moms, and we’re trying to help them break those cycles,” said Dr. Garay.

emme联盟向这些妇女和女孩提供的所有服务都是免费的。 The emme coalition is funded through a grant from the Fairfield County Community Foundation’s Fund for Women & Girls. 去年夏天，FCCF帮助Garay博士筹集资金，将10名布里奇波特女孩送到希望营。 希望营是由家庭正义中心举办的。 Children attending Camp Hope experience summer activities and undergo intensive group and individual therapy for the abuse they’ve endured. 她希望明年夏天再送10个女孩。

Dr. Garay wouldn’t be where she is today, helping improve the lives of people born in other countries, without the sacrifice her mother made when Paula was a child.

“We have more than made up for it.”

今天，宝拉、她的母亲和她的兄弟姐妹都是美国公民。 她的母亲仍然住在康涅狄格州特朗布尔的房子里，这是宝拉12岁来到美国时第一次住的房子。 Thanks to her mother’s enormous sacrifice, her siblings all had the opportunity to attend college. “If we had stayed in Chile, I don’t think any of us would have gone to college.”

虽然离开母亲7年很艰难，但宝拉说这一切都是值得的。 “I don’t know exactly the situation she was in. 她觉得她需要供养我们； 这是唯一的办法。 It’s not something we talk about often, but I know it weighs heavily on her.”

宝拉分享她的经历，因为她希望人们对自己成功的能力充满信心，即使生活给他们带来了如此多的挑战。 “As hard as it was, I never felt like I couldn’t do it. Even when I was at risk of being deported.”

在经历了许多教育障碍之后，在澳门新葡京博彩官网教师的支持和鼓励下，Paula获得了学士，硕士和博士学位，同时全职工作，并与丈夫William抚养三个年幼的孩子。 “如果我能做到，其他人也能。 I’m not special. I’m just hardworking.”

今天移民到美国

加雷博士希望通过她的工作，帮助人们了解将非法移民带到美国的可怕环境。 Paula’s mother traveled thousands of miles, leaving her children for seven years to achieve a better life for her family. “The anger and animosity toward undocumented immigrants is unnecessary. 他们没有获得任何资源，因为在政府层面上没有任何资源可供他们使用。 That’s why programs like emme have to exist.”

emme联盟帮助布里奇波特的妇女制定人生计划。 They’ve seen many women grow and succeed because people like Paula and her team are by their side.

The connection to 新葡京博彩 doesn’t end there. OPTIMUS Health Care sends many patients to the 口腔卫生学院 clinic and the 脊椎治疗学院 for healthcare services. OPTIMUS医疗保健和emme联盟服务的许多患者没有保险或保险不足，需要获得负担得起的服务- 澳门新葡京博彩官网的医疗保健学生帮助社区成员填补了这一空白。

根据皮尤研究中心的数据，今天生活在美国的4000多万人出生在另一个国家。 在美国移民人口中，几乎每个国家都有代表。 Connecticut, New York, Boston, and the surrounding areas are home to more than 6 million immigrants who work, study, and live in our communities (源).

“That was always part of the plan. 我想来布里奇波特回馈社会。 I wanted to be the person I needed when I was a child.” 是。 Paula Garay， MBA, DHSc

在澳门新葡京博彩官网，我们的学生来自全球80多个国家，将全球视角融合到一个多元化和包容性的校园中。 来自世界各地的学生来到澳门新葡京博彩官网来实现他们的个人和职业目标。 A 健康科学学位 can set you up with a rewarding career, helping our most underserved populations access the resources and tools they need for success.

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