Lucilla Cano always wanted to be a nurse. But working three jobs to support her kids, it was difficult to take the time necessary to work toward that goal. That all changed when she enrolled in the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Barbara’s Family Self-Sufficiency Program, which gave her the space and guidance she needed to go to school, earn her nursing degree, and make a better life for her and her family.
“It makes me want to tear up talking about it,” Cano said. “All the hard work, every single obstacle, and all of the ‘I can’t do this’ — it’s rewarded immediately.”
Cano graduated from the federally funded program in December 2023, and since then, she says, life hasn’t been the same.