Elgin Woman Wins National Success Story Award

By Natalie Bruzon
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Angela Cuffe didn’t know she was a success story. To her, a positive and attitude and hard work were just a part of her everyday life. However, those around her saw how special her story is.

In December Cuffe will make her way to Washington D.C. to accept an award as the 2016 National Success Story by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Family Assistance.

Cuffe, who received her practical nursing degree from Central Community College in Columbus and is now the LPN administrator at Prairie View Assisted Living in Tilden, said she never expected to win a national award.

“I’m a part of the Central Community College alumni and they had seen my article in the Tilden or Elgin paper about me becoming the regional ambassador for the Licensed Practical Nursing Association for Nebraska and the secretary for the Nebraska Assisted Living Associations, northeast district,” explained Cuffe. “So they had looked at that and thought, ‘Oh wow I think she could maybe be a success story do you think she would mind writing a success story?’

Cuffe said she wrote the story, and also filled out a questionnaire.

“I think there were 27 stories throughout the nation that were brought up and out of those 27 there were four finalists,” Cuffe said. “So I was one of the four finalists, and I eventually got chosen as the one.”

Even then, Cuffe said she thought the award was only for the state of Nebraska. “I honestly thought this was just a Nebraska thing. I didn’t know this was a national award at all. Once I found it was national I was kind of like ‘wow!’ ”

Cuffe was not only presented with an award, she will also have the opportunity to tell her story in at the Health Profession Opportunity Grant national conference in Washington D.C. According to a press release by Central Community College, Cuffe “will be flown to Washington D.C. for the Health Profession Opportunity Grant (HPOG) national conference on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 to give a presentation on how CCC and Project HELP assisted her in achieving academic and career success.”

“Basically (I’ll tell) my life story and how I came about, from where I was to where I am today and how (Project HELP) assisted me in kind of getting there as far as going through their program,” Cuffe explained. “I know there would be some times when I wasn’t sure if I would make it to class because the gas tank was low. Well, the gas cards really helped me because I was driving clear from Elgin to Columbus everyday for classes.”

For Cuffe, the financial assistance provided by Project HELP, which includes lending laptops, providing tutoring programs and financially assisting students in the medical field purchase scrubs, was instrumental to her finishing her degree.

When Cuffe started attending school in Columbus, she was a young 25-year-old recently divorced mother of four.

“I graduated (high school) in ‘96, I was pregnant in ‘97 at the age of 19 and I got married at the age of 19 and then by the time I think I was 23 I think I had four kids,” said Cuffe. “My first marriage ended in 2003 so maybe I was like 24 or 25 by the time that I was a single mom with 4 little kids. I didn’t really start my college career until 2004, so I was basically a single mom going to school full-time.”

Nursing is a difficult degree under any circumstance, but for Cuffe at times it seemed impossible.

“I remember times when I wanted to quit, I wanted to throw in the towel,” Cuffe said. “I was just like, ‘I can’t do this anymore!, I spent numerous nights just in tears because I was struggling and just stressed. Just massive massive stress. And I’m like, ‘I don’t know if I can do this.’”

However, for Cuffe quitting was never an option. Becoming a nurse had been her dream since elementary school.

“It was either second or third grade, we took this field trip to the old hospital in Norfolk, it use to be Lutheran but now it’s Faith Regional,” remembered Cuffe. “And I remember vividly the girls wore the nursing caps because they gave us those paper caps to put on our head and the boys got the little round thing with the mirror on the head and we had a class picture.” By the age of 16, Cuffe had her CNA. “I’ve always enjoyed taking care of people and animals and stuff . . . I can’t see myself doing anything else but taking care of people.”

Some would say it’s a miracle Cuffe made it so far with all the obstacles she faced. Cuffe sees it differently.

“If it hadn’t been for my marriages falling apart I probably wouldn’t be here,” said Cuffe emphatically. “I have a very positive attitude and I believe in affirmation. So it’s like life throws you curve balls and there’s a reason for everything, why things happen, and I believe that I got thrown all these curve balls to get where I am today.”

Now, years later Cuffe is an administrator at an assisted living facility, quietly giving back to her community and loving every minute.

​While some would call her a success story, Cuffe simply calls it living.

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