Aleth Hernandez
As a landed immigrant, there are things that one has to become accustomed to. One of these is volunteerism. In the Philippines, volunteerism is not a common practice. It was Bessie Pinon, a settlement officer at the Multicultural Helping House Society, who broached the idea and encouraged me to volunteer at MHHS. She told me that volunteering at a government-funded institution would benefit me in my job search. Shortly after, I signed up as a volunteer receptionist. While the shift was short, I gained a lot from learning the ropes of operating a multi-line telephone system and interacting with callers, visitors and the MHHS personnel. This paved the way for me to be accepted as a temp employee of a well-known temp agency in BC. MHHS was my work reference and I thank Tessie Rodriguez for the accommodation. Now I am employed as a temp to hire. The rest is up to me. Thank you for the support MHHS, especially Tatay Tom!