A new car would help nurse aid get to work, achieve dream of becoming a nurse | Wish List

Diana Tarley, an immigrant who who escaped the war in Liberia with her children and is now a naturalized citizen, needs a reliable car to get to work and to school. She hopes to earn her licensed practical nurse degree and continue the work she loves working in a nursing home.

The Enquirer and United Way of Greater Cincinnati have joined forces for the 36th year to help families in need with the Wish List program. This is the fourth of eight stories that will appear this month.

At 47, Diana Tarley has seen more than her share of heartbreak and sorrow.

In the late 1990s, she fled from her native Liberia, a West African country embroiled in civil war, and escaped to neighboring Ivory Coast. But when civil war broke out there in 2002, the father of her two children was killed.

In 2004, through a refugee resettlement program, Diana and her children, then both under age 5, arrived in the United States. Diana spoke little English. Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio helped them start new lives in Cincinnati.

“It was difficult,” Diana said. “The first year, I cried every night, every day, because we had no family here.”

She got a job doing laundry at St. Margaret Hall, a skilled nursing home in East Walnut Hills administered by the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm. Impressed by Diana’s hard work and determination, one of the sisters paid for her to receive training as a state-tested nurse aid.

The work suits Diana well. “I like helping people,” she said. “When I’m taking care of people, it makes me happy. I see my grandma through them.”

Her grandmother, who raised her, decided not to accompany Diana to America. “She was afraid to come. She didn’t know how life would be here.” She became ill and died alone in Liberia.

Diana does not regret her decision to come to America. She became a U.S. citizen 10 years ago. She relishes the opportunities available to her children. They are now 22 and 20 and attend Cincinnati State.

Diana has faced several challenges in recent months: having to find a new home, undergoing surgery and losing her nephew.

Still, over the past 18 months, misfortune has continued to plague Diana. First, the home she was renting was sold. Unable to find affordable housing, she was referred to the Welcome Home Collaborative, a nonprofit transitional housing program that helped her find temporary housing in Colerain Township.

Story continues

Shortly after moving in, she became ill. She underwent three surgeries for a gastrointestinal condition and was unable to work from December 2021 until April of this year.

She had been back at work just a few months when her 28-year-old nephew – whom she helped raise – died suddenly. He was buried in September.

“I pray every day: God, can something better happen to me in my life?”

Diana drives to work in a minivan she bought last year. It is more than 20 years old and in poor mechanical condition. It sometimes breaks down during her commute. She is afraid to drive it on a highway.

Her wish is for a safe, reliable vehicle. It would not only transport her to and from work, but one day she hopes it will take her to nursing classes. A nursing degree would help her achieve financial stability. She also wants to be a nurse “for the same reason I’m a nurse aide. I just so love to help people.”

Diana’s wish: A safe, reliable vehicle.

Estimated cost: $5,000

Donations can be made online at www.uwgc.org/wishlist. You can also mail donations to: United Way of Greater Cincinnati, Attn: Wish List Pledge Processing, P.O. Box 632840, Cincinnati, OH 45263-2840. Please include “Wish List” in the memo line on checks.

John Johnston is the content writer at United Way and a former Enquirer reporter. 

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: A nurse aid battled illness, now needs a car to get to work