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Drive for 5 helps Alivia double her wages on a health care career track
10 Feb 2026
News
Alivia started in nursing school when she was 19 years old and working parttime as a Nursing Assistant at CHI St. Gabriel’s Health in Little Falls and Horizon Health in Pierz. A Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) Drive for 5 funded initiative through Rural Minnesota Concentrated Employment Program (RMCEP) paid Alivia’s tuition and provided financial assistance to pay for school textbooks, scrubs tops and pants, nursing shoes, gas gift cards and a gas voucher while she was in spring semester of her final year of nursing school in 2025. She successfully earned her Associate of Science in Nursing at Central Lakes College, passed the exam to become a Registered Nurse (RN) and now works as an RN at St. Gabriel’s and Horizon Health.
Below is a letter of gratitude that Alivia wrote to the team at RMCEP as she graduated nursing school.
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