My name is Ivonne Martinez I was born in Juarez Chihuahua. I'm the oldest of four siblings we came here literally with a small bag of clothes and that’s about it. I learned to adapt in a new country quickly. The hardest part was adapting to a new language, a new culture living in a very poor environment. When I was 15 my parents divorced and my mom once again moved us to Colorado once again, another drastic change in my life. Also having to adapt to living in a new place away from my family and away from my grandma which was huge for me because she raised me when I was a child. Living in Colorado was never the easiest thing but I’m very sociable so I made acquaintances quick. Long story short I became a single mother of three boys and one of them had autism at that point I had no idea what even autism was, or how it would affect my family. Thankfully I was able to navigate school systems & Services in the community like housing and such all to be able to provide for my children. There was a time that I felt like giving up but my case manager from Colorado Blue Sky wasn’t going to let me give up. She talked to me about a program called CNA Moms that was launching around the time that my son was diagnosed with autism . I was one of the first see any moms to work as a CNA to care and provide assistance to my son, allowing me to work and provide for my family, and help me to be independent. Helped me no longer needs food stamps and housing. And still be able to provide financially, also the possibility to become a family support partner and help other moms and families walk though their own obstacles and get through the barriers that were meant to knock them done and accomplished their goals and visions. By empowering and helping them learn new and better ways to excel and become resilient... I love my job because my lived experience might be able to help others in my community.