How an innate resilience—combined with education—helped a woman engage with her community and become a role model for others
Carlada Thomas is focused on the people around her, all the time. Whether that’s her three “birth children,” her two “adopted children,” her patients at the skilled nursing facility or her church community, she is always helping others.
What’s surprising about that is Thomas had an admittedly difficult childhood—with a mother who had substance abuse issues and a father who was incarcerated. She suffered physical and emotional abuse. There were many times she could have turned inward or just given up. What saved her?
“Unconditional love,” she recalls, citing in particular some strong women who loved her like she was their own child and treated her children like their grandchildren. “In spite of my anger, no one judged me. For me, that’s what unconditional love looks like.”
“It’s going to get better. … You have a voice. Find out who you are in the midst of this. This storm isn’t going to last forever.’”
Carlada Thomas, Graduate, Sutter County Adult Education
As a result of that support, Thomas made a conscious pivot away from “victimhood” for both herself and her kids. In her early 30s, she enrolled in an adult education program through the Sutter County Superintendent’s Office of Education. She finished her high school education in January 2019 and immediately started classes at the community college, with the goal of completing a degree in social work.
But once again, life intervened: COVID hit. Her grandfather passed away and she lost her retail job. Her college classes, which she had been struggling with—Thomas has some learning disabilities—were becoming more difficult because they were all remote. “What am I going to do?” she remembers asking.
She once again had some angels on her side, and was offered a job at River Valley Care Center. She completed a certified nursing assistant degree through the care center’s in-house program and worked directly with patients, but then another pivot occurred. River Valley assigned her to its social services department, much closer to her social work goals. And she is more committed than ever to completing a college degree in that field at Yuba College.
In the meantime, she continues to work with her church, where she has long been involved in programs like Feed My Sheep, which provides meals in the Yuba-Sutter area, and the Mobile Community Closet, which distributes clothing and school supplies. During COVID, which sidelined some of these in-person services, she connects via Zoom or Facebook with young people to encourage them during these challenging times.
“It’s going to get better,” she says emphatically. “I want them to know, ‘you have a voice. Find out who you are in the midst of this. This storm isn’t going to last forever.’”
To learn more about Sutter County Adult Education, visit suttercountyadulted.org or call 530-822-5810.
Written by Thea Marie Rood
| Regions | Classes |
|---|---|
| Central California | High School |
