Jeanette: Resilience, Empathy, and the Global Journey of Care
Jeanette Tubongbanua’s path to success is a story of courage, family determination, and perseverance. A licensed nurse in the Philippines, she arrived in Canada with a wealth of expertise, but like all Internationally-Educated Nurses who came to Ontario to answer a need for talented nurses, she had to start over as a Personal Support Worker (PSW), retraining while adapting to a new country and a new health system.
“It was overwhelming,” she admits. During COVID back home in the Philippines, she was in charge of mid-wife services, vaccinations, and supporting families through loss. Moving to Canada meant leaving her three children with family for two years, a sacrifice she felt deeply but accepted for their future. “It was a big change,” she says. “But here, there is a sense of community. Canada seemed like a place where family values and work balance mattered.”
Jeanette quickly adapted to life at HCC, finding the small Hamilton home easier to navigate than the larger sites she had worked in. Knowing faces became more important than remembering names – a skill that helped her form close bonds with residents and teammates alike. Her empathy, honed in the most challenging of circumstances, guides every interaction. She senses moods, respects preferences, and recognizes that care is deeply personal.
“Different people come with different warnings,” she reflects. “You have to know how to treat them, and that’s what makes a difference.”
Through conversation with Jeanette, it’s easy to understand why she was recognized for the 2025 Walk in My Shoes Success Award.
Her colleagues see her as a steadying presence; a person whose calm assurance strengthens the team. As a PSW, she shares her experience, mentoring newer staff and fostering cross-functional collaboration naturally. After earning her nursing certification, she brings that same sense of calm to her nursing shifts. In her quiet resilience, Jeanette models the kind of support that comes naturally to those with a caregiver’s heart.
Jeanette’s story reminds those around her that courage and empathy are inseparable, that strength is built not just in skill but in heart. Her journey shows that even when starting a new life in a new land, dedication and compassion create bonds as strong as family.
Zee: The Quiet Force of Trust and Connection
In a small community at Hamilton Continuing Care (HCC), Zalika Oswald (Zee) is not only known for her strong work ethic, but for the trust and calm she brings to residents and team members alike. What began as a casual entry into the world of care has grown into a story of connection, leadership, and quiet influence.
She just has that natural way about her – an ability to easily connect with people. That’s part of the reason why she was recognized as a 2025 Schlegel Villages Success Award Winner in the Earn Trust category.
Zee has always been connected to the service of elders. Her mother is a caregiver in a long-term care home in Toronto and as a child, Zee was often with her mother at work. She began working as a PSW before the COVID-19 struggles hit in early 2020.
Zee says the pandemic reshaped every routine and every expectation, yet even amid chaos, she found her footing – not by mastering every technical task, but by connecting with people. Residents quickly learned that she was someone they could trust.
It remains that way today – Zee walks down the corridor and pokes her head in a resident’s room to say hello. “She tells me that she trusts me,” Zee says, noting that this particular resident always asks for Zee when it comes to personal care needs. “I know I’m doing something right in their eyes.”
Her gift, Zee realizes, is in understanding the nuances of each person’s needs. With a small team in a small Village, Zee knows every resident’s habits, anxieties, and preferences. This intimacy, she explains, is why smaller Villages excel at fostering trust: “If you had 20 different people a week touching me,” she says, putting herself in the residents’ place, "I’d be scared, I’d be angry.
“Fewer people make it easier to build trust.”
Now, as the Village prepares to move to a larger home when The Village of Fennell Ridge opens in Hamilton in 2028, Zee considers how to carry this culture forward. Familiar faces, she believes, will ease transitions for residents. As for her own team, she wants every new person to feel welcomed, part of the rhythm from day one. “Making them feel comfortable,” she says, “so they want to come to work—then everything else works.”
Beyond routine care, Zee has embraced cross-functional teamwork, helping wherever needed – from housekeeping to kitchen support, showing that leadership is as much about flexibility as it is about skill. Her presence reminds the Village daily that caring is more than tasks; it’s empathy, consistency, and dedication. She believes the key to nurturing the Schlegel Villages aspiration to develop truly cross-functional teams at the neighbourhood level is to have team members regularly scheduled for “walk-a-mile” shadow shifts in different departments. Doing so would offer people the opportunity to learn new aspects of Village life and the confidence to step in where possible.
For Zee, the work isn’t about accolades. It’s about residents feeling seen, safe, and valued. In every quiet gesture, every patient explanation, she builds the culture of trust that makes Hamilton Continuing Care feel like home. For Zee, that’s the truest measure of success.
Natasha’s Journey of Follow Through, Heart, and Growth
When Natasha Busacay arrived in Canada from the Philippines in 2018, she carried with her years of nursing experience, but she also understood that she would need to start again. “I was already doing all the nursing assessments back home,” she says. “But here, I didn’t have my PSW certificate yet, so I had to learn everything again.”
She began working in the community as a PSW, all while adjusting to a new country and preparing for her family to join her. Her husband and young son arrived in 2019, just before the world changed with the arrival of COVID-19. “It was such an intense time,” Natasha remembers. “New job, new learning, bringing my family here, and then the lockdowns. But at least we were together.”
Natasha’s growth at HCC has been steady and remarkable. She worked as a care partner, then as a PSW, and with the help and encouragement of her team, she completed her RPN requirements. Today, she works both PSW and RPN shifts with confidence and compassion. “This is my first workplace in Canada,” she says. “From the beginning, I felt a connection. Everyone was so friendly and always willing to help.”
That reliability and commitment are exactly why Natasha was chosen as a Success Award Winner in the Follow Through category. She defines follow-through simply: “It means being reliable. When you start something, you finish it. You don’t leave things behind.”
Residents often ask her for updates or results, and Natasha never ignores a request. “When you’re consistent, they feel comfortable. They trust you,” she says. “If you believe in the value of your work, and you follow through with your heart, the recognition follows.”
Attending the Schlegel Villages Operational Planning retreat in 2025 with fellow Success Winners from across the organization strengthened her sense of belonging. “It was overwhelming at first—you meet so many people you don’t know—but I learned so much. The speakers were amazing. I felt even more connected to the Schlegel Villages philosophy.”
As HCC continues to cultivate strong cross-functional teams, Natasha sees communication as the foundation. “If someone needs help and you’re available, you help, whether you’re a nurse or a PSW. And you must ask for help, too. People can’t always see when you’re struggling.”
For Natasha, nursing is more than a profession; it’s a calling rooted in her family and deepened by her own experience. “You need a heart for this work,” she says. “Because you’re dealing with people’s lives.”
