Evelyn Ruth Soriano, a staff midwife in a hospital in MandaluyongCity for more than 19 years, was forced to resign from work when she accidentally slipped on a wet floor in the sterilizing room while on duty.  She had a lumbar disc disease thatrestrained her fromany body movement for a period of time.

To ensure a steady income, Sorianoput up a sari-sari store for their daily expenses. But it was not enough to support her family’s needs.With three young children who were all studying, she was so worried about her situation. She was jobless with no clear vision towards her future.

Luckily, her parents and friends supported her financially. But Soriano knew that she cannot rely on her parents and friends permanently. She had to do something.

“Paano kaya ang magiging buhay namin?” (What will happen to our lives?) Soriano uttered.

In December 2011, Soriano’s family celebrated Christmas without anything on the table for the first time. She felt sorry for her kids. But she just kept her faith with the Lord and surrendered everything to Him, believing in the saying that God will always provide.

Upon learning that Soriano suffered from a work-related injury, the Employees’ Compensation Commission sent a letterto her four times. The ECCinvited her to visit its office to give her free rehabilitation services. However, Soriano ignored ECC’s invitations because she does not trust any government agency.

Finally, the ECC made a home visit to Soriano and explained the benefits she will receive from the EC Program.

“I was actually surprised to know that ECC is willing to reach out and help me. ECC is the only government agency I know that extends its hand to occupationally-disabled workers like me without us asking from them,” Soriano said.

Soriano received P6,865.50 permanent partial disability monthly pension for 15 months.  The ECC also gave her free entrepreneurial trainings on soap making and start-your-own-business-and-enterprise.

“I was hitting rock bottom when the ECC came to me. They were just in time to help rebuild my life. Maybe God used ECC to help me to move on to a better future for my family,” Soriano mused.

Through the trainings, Soriano was able to pick up the pieces and restore her life. With a little knowledge in cooking peanut butter, Soriano applied her learnings from the SYOBE training and tried selling peanut butter within her neighborhood.Soriano was able to sell two to five kilos of peanut butter in a week.

Soriano was able to meet a lot of people during her SYOBE training, and one of them made some arrangements with DZAS radio for her live interview regarding her peanut butter business.

After the interview, many people contacted her and ordered peanut butter. From two kilos of peanut butter she now sells 50-60 kilos in a week.

“Indeed, God always provides. In my situation, He provided for my family through the help of ECC,” Soriano said.