Donna Forbes-Adams has always felt a strong calling to care for others; although she originally planned to become an attorney, she turned to the healthcare field instead to fulfill her desire to help people heal. Now a Certified Patient Care Associate at Kaiser Permanente, Donna also funnels her passion for caring for others into giving back to her community in her personal life.
Influenced by her father, the late Stephen Earl Forbes—an advocate for education, Donna and her sisters launched a nonprofit, SEF-FOUNDATION, in their home country of Jamaica. This organization supports local schools in the community by hiring private educators to teach reading and comprehension to students who are not reading at their appropriate grade level, providing essential school supplies and materials to educational establishments, raising money for community/school improvement projects, and offering financial assistance to the winner of the annual Stephen Earl Forbes writing competitions.
Currently, there are 128 student students In her program. With numbers increasing on a yearly basis, it is Donna’s hope to one day be able to open her own facility. This would align well with her goal to increase literacy in the community.
SEIU members who work at Kaiser Permanente are passionate about caring for their patients their communities. These caregivers are fighting to win a fair contract that will help them keep up with the high cost of living, keep their healthcare benefits affordable, and ensure they are able to retire after a long career of caring for others.
You can help. Contact Ruth Brinkley, the president of Kaiser Permanente’s Northwest region, and tell her you strongly support Kaiser SEIU members who deserve a fair contract, and urge her to protect good union jobs in Oregon and Washington. You can call her at 503-813-3805 or email her at ruth.williams-brinkley@kp.org