Samuel Nnorom
Cabaniss Consultants has the best employees! Samuel Nnorom is a great example of what Cabaniss seeks to exemplify as a company. His merit, integrity, hard work, and warm heart serves our individuals in the highest level. Samuel grew up in Nigeria and came to Lynchburg to get his Masters at Liberty University in Public Health. He told us about how a lot of companies didn’t want to hire him solely out of the fact that he is not a U.S. citizen. We saw that he was a great fit for us not only in person, but in person his smile and positivity was infectious.
Through the years he has worked with us he has continually proven to be an amazing person as he serves our individuals in a loving way. He describes working in our group homes as a frat house because there’s such a strong bond, they watch their favorite shows together, play games, joke around, and have a great time. Samuel jokingly brought up how they make fun of his cooking, to which he shrugged.
Samuel, has made a lot of great memories working for Cabaniss over the years. He has loved getting to learn about our individuals and what their favorite activities are. One of our individual’s favorite activities is getting the mail, especially when there is a letter in there for him. Samuel, going above and beyond, would occasionally drop a letter in the mailbox just to make his day.
Another part of working at Cabaniss that he could not emphasize enough was the quality in the leadership. Samuel said that there was a great balance of teaching and preparation as well as execution. Among the many qualities that he loved was the constant support from his supervisors making sure that he was doing well and asking how they can help him. However, when you have a capable team leader like Samuel, the job of leadership becomes easier.
In February of 2017, we sent Samuel to a medical conference in Denver. While there, he gave a presentation to a large group of people, something out of his comfort zone, but very important for his growth. One of the people attending that conference was in leadership at the University of Denver and offered Samuel a full scholarship to get his PhD in Psychology, full funding for his research, and a job teaching at the university. Surprisingly, he initially declined this amazing offer.
As stated earlier, immigration laws can be incredibly complex. A difficult situation came up where Samuel needed to be accepted to a university to continue his education or he would be forced to leave the country. Danny Cabaniss helped Samuel by going to local colleges and writing letters to get him accepted, not knowing about the initial offer from the University of Denver. When things weren’t working out locally, Samuel then revealed the offer from the previous year to Danny. He didn’t want to leave Cabaniss, which is why he was reluctant to bring up or accept this generous offer. Danny, knowing how big of an opportunity this would be for Samuel, pushed him to accept this.
Cabaniss threw a party for him as he starts this next chapter of his life. Saying goodbye isn’t easy when you have a team member like Samuel, but we are proud of him and very excited to see where this new opportunity takes him!
