Working at the ACC Care Center was not only Sumintra Devi’s last job before retirement, it was her first job, ever! Soon after relocating from Fiji to the USA, Sumintra joined the ACC family as a housekeeper at the Care Center in 1999. After being a stay-at-home housewife in Fiji, she was excited to take on a new role.
When Sumintra began her employment, she also enrolled in English language classes through ACC in order to better communicate with co-workers and residents. She even learned to drive so she didn’t have to rely on public transportation to get to and from work. Sumintra also took advantage of as many continuing education and professional development courses that she could during her time with ACC, proudly displaying her certificates and awards all over her walls.
Sumintra’s pride in her work and accomplishments was the theme of her recent retirement party, hosted by her ACC co-workers. When asked what she is going to do with all of her free time, she immediately agreed to come back and volunteer in the activities department, working directly with the residents that she loves. Sumintra’s daughters shared that their mom wants to continue to learn and grow in retirement, even learning how to use a computer.
Mark Williams, Environmental Services Director at the ACC Care Center, shared the story of when the community first adopted radios for department communication, Sumintra vehemently refused. She later became a super user and was frequently the first person to respond, always keeping the radio by her side. Perfecto Bravo, Director of IT, shared that when they were doing an exercise on empathy, the entire environmental services staff were told to go home for the day and management staff took over their department – laundry, housekeeping and maintenance. Sumintra refused to leave, insisting that she needed to help!
Sumintra’s family shared that their mom is always on the move, working through being tired or in pain to get the job done, and their hope is that she will put her feet up from time to time. Not only is she passionate about her work at ACC, but in her free time she loves to cook and entertain her children and grandchildren. There is always something on the stove and she never lets you go hungry when you visit.
She loves to travel the world, seeing different locations for vacation and visiting her family, who are spread over various continents. In the near future, Sumintra is planning trips to New Zealand, Canada and Paris, just to name a few!
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