First and foremost I would like to start this off by thanking everyone who took the time to vote for me.

Hello My name is Anissa Israel. I am a 36-year-old mother of three. Two boys and one girl, ages 18, 15, and 6. I love being a mother so much, and my kids mean absolutely everything to me. One of my main hobbies is having fun with my children and reading books.

I am currently the house manager at the Riverside location, and my journey to getting to that position wasn’t a walk in the park. I have literally been in every position Good Counsel can offer.

I started off at Good Counsel in childcare in November of 2018. Although I loved doing childcare, I knew that this wasn’t something i wanted to do forever. An RA position became available so I took that. I enjoyed being an RA, and the house manager depended on me a lot. I soon became the senior RA. There were many tasks for me to take on in this position and I understood and did them well.

The opportunity for me to become a Case Manager came up and I decided to go ahead and submit my resume. I was picked and did it for a while and realized that it definitely wasn’t something for me. I have no problem admitting when something is too much, and I was definitely headed into the direction of going back to the senior RA.

Another opportunity came for me to become the House Manager and that leads me to where I am today. I enjoy being a House Manager. I feel comfortable in this new role. I have faced many challenges here but I held my head high. Prayer helps a lot. I also live by the word PUSH. Which means pray until something happens.

My passion has always been to help people. I have always been in a field of being a helping hand to people who can’t really help themselves. I have been a companion, CNA, HHA, and worked with mentally disabled kids with behaviors for 13 years and now God put me here. Not to pat myself on the back, but I am a very loving, caring, dependable, reliable, respectful person and I would give my last if I have it. I work hard and I love taking on new challenges and experiences.  

I always look forward to getting a new mom in the home. A lot of our woman don’t know but I learn so much from them. You have to have a lot of patience and compassion for our women. What we may consider a bad day could be a worst one for them. It’s not about what we go through, it’s how we get out of it.

I appreciate Good Counsel giving me a job and helping me elevate throughout the years but also for being generous to help women in need. Not everyone gets a second chance at life, and we are giving it to them one mom at a time. I know Good Counsel is continuing to blossom.

Thank you for even considering me as a runner up for employee of the year, and I hope my other candidates are as happy as I am. With that being said, I want to end this with one of my favorite quotes: “We cannot become what we want by remaining who we are.” Change is always good. Thank you and God bless.