‘Kindness, Compassion, Empathy’ – Team Member Scholarship Program Helps Dream Come True for Dee Sutawijaya

In November, the UMRC Foundation and Porter Hills Foundation launched a competitive Staff Scholarship program for team members at Porter Hills, emulating the program started in 2014 at UMRC. Part of the Team Member Support Services fund, we are honored to award scholarships to team members at Porter Hills. This includes Dee Sutawijaya, a medical technician at Porter Hills Village’s “Catered” Assisted Living center.

Four years ago, Dee moved from Indonesia to Michigan with her husband, a Grand Rapids native. She had been a social studies teacher in her country for eleven years.

Dee had never thought about becoming a caregiver, until she returned to Indonesia to care for her gravely ill grandmother. When Dee came back to Grand Rapids, she decided to use these skills to help others and began working at Porter Hills Village.

This fall, Dee was delighted to learn that the Porter Hills Foundation was launching its Team Member Scholarship program. “I had been saving to begin an LPN program,” says Dee. “This scholarship is allowing my goal to happen faster.”  Eventually, she hopes to earn her Bachelor’s degree in nursing.

“Kindness, compassion, and empathy” is Dee’s philosophy for nursing. “I like interacting with older adults and encouraging them to be as independent as they can be, to show compassion and touch their hearts. Their happiness is my goal.”

Dale H., the son of a Porter Hills Village resident, says this about Dee:  “It was clear that a most special bond formed between Dee and our mother during Mom’s 18 months at Porter Hills. Our family’s lives have been enriched by Dee’s presence among us. My mom would be so proud of Dee for her scholarship.”

You can support success stories like Dee’s with a gift to the Team Member Support Services fund!  To learn more, visit umrcfoundation.umrcph2022.wpengine.com or porterhillsfoundation.umrcph2022.wpengine.com or call 734.433.1000 ext. 7502 or 616-577-2297.