BETHLEHEM, Pa. — A new option is available in Bethlehem for those looking to become a certified nurse assistant or a home health aide.
- Nigerian immigrant Doris Ezomo has tapped into her pension to start a nursing school
- Students can become a certified nurse assistant or a home health aide
- Four- and six-week courses are offered in Bethlehem
What makes Diadem Nursing Institute stand out from the rest is the school’s founder, Doris Ezomo.
Ezomo emigrated from Africa to the United States and, as part of her journey, used her own funds to make her dream of helping people a reality.
Overcoming adversity is in the nursing school founder’s nature.
“I’ve come through a lot,” Ezomo said.
Now, she feels her time to help others has come.
“What the community has given to me, because I felt they gave me a chance," she said. "Coming to this country was an opportunity for me.”
"Believe that if you have your education, you'll be able to have a roof over your head and you’ll be able to help others also.”Doris Ezomo, Founder, Diadem Nursing School
She was born and raised in Nigeria, and her family immigrated to the United States after she graduated from high school. They moved to public housing in Newark, New Jersey.
Ezomo’s business advisor, Tom Stine, painted a more realistic picture about her modest start in this country.
“For those of us that knew anything about the projects in Newark 25 years ago, she was in one of those,” Stine said.
“She wasn't in a nice neighborhood. She was in one of the worst neighborhoods in America.”
The New Jersey resident quickly enrolled in school and started working. She said it was her father’s dream for his children to have more opportunities through education and his advice stuck in her head.
She recalled his words saying, “Anything you do, you just have to have your education. Believe that if you have your education, you'll be able to have a roof over your head and you’ll be able to help others also.”
Decades later, after getting her Ph.D. in nursing and becoming an adjunct professor at Kean University in New Jersey, Ezomo worked with the Pennsylvania Department of Education to open a nursing school.
And she was personally invested — she used her own money for the school, tapping into her pension and taking out a line of credit.
“I remember the person telling me it's almost impossible,” she said about working with the state Department of Education.
"She's this little single person, woman, and going to the institution that Penn State uses, that University of Pittsburgh uses with about 10 people working on an application and she was on this by herself," Stine said. "Awesome.”
A mother of three, she did most of the work herself to get the school off the ground while she worked as an adjunct professor.
She eventually was joined by Stine at Rising Tide Community Loan Fund. Rising Tide is part of the Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley and works with small businesses to get them up and running.
With a business advisor in her corner, she persevered.
“Doris has the heart of a lion and humility that I've never seen a combination of those two together,” Stine said.
Ezomo explained why she wanted to start it by saying, “for those students that want to go into healthcare and they just don't know how to do it. They don't know where to go. I was like the road for them, like the stepping stone.”
The inaugural class of students from Diadem Nursing Institute and Allied Health graduated last summer in Easton.
“My goal long term is to make this a nursing assistants' school and if possible, make it a licensed practical nurse school,” Ezomo said.
The program offers four- and six-week certification courses to become a certified nurse assistant or a home health aide. The location has changed and classes now are at Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School.
Those interested in the program can visit the school’s website at DNIAH.com.
