Lillian Gonzalez was a Puerto Rican-born migrant who had moved to Waterbury from New York City in order to raise her four children in a safer environment.  She was one of the many aides who came to the company by way of word of mouth.  Through a program offered by Waterbury's Hispanic social service agency, she had trained as a nurse's aide at a local technical school.  A friend at VCC mentioned her name to Rosati, and in 1993 she became a ValleyCare aide.  Her first case was a Hispanic patient, bedridden with terminal cancer. 

"[I had to] bathe him, transfer him to the wheelchair, help him eat.  I went in the morning and also in the afternoon to get him ready for bed.  His wife was there [and] she helped me a lot." 

"After a few months he died.  His family continues to be my friends, they never forgot me.  He has two sons who are twins who are friends of my husband, they began to work together, and we visit each other."

    - Lillian Gonzales