Luise’s Gift is a newly established non-profit started by Paulene Kipke. Luise’s Gift aims to alleviate nurse training course costs for aspiring CNAs in Wisconsin. The non-profit captures the spirit of Paulene’s mother-in-law, Luise, a German immigrant who devoted much of her life to healthcare.

Luise emigrated to the United States in 1958, on a Nurse Assistant scholarship. After World War II, there was a significant shortage of Nurse Assistants within the workforce in the United States, and Luise was determined to help. The scholarship empowered Luise to create a life for herself and her family in America; she earned her citizenship, got married, and raised her children, all while caring for others.

Luise’s Gift offers needs-based scholarships, breaking down barriers and building up Wisconsin’s network of Nurse Assistants.

Paulene also owns a for-profit company: Quality CNA Training, LLC. Paulene started the company in June of 2016 after her previous employer closed their CNA training program on very short notice. At that time, the company’s July and August classes were filled with students seeking to start a career in healthcare. In an effort to help these students, Paulene decided to open her own training program overnight. In less than 2 weeks, Paulene was able to start her own Certified Nurse Assistant training business, opening three training locations, hiring the necessary staff, and successfully transferring the students from her previous employer over to her newly-founded business. Since this time, Paulene has opened a total of 14 training locations around Wisconsin and continues to grow where the needs are greatest.

Through her company, Paulene has witnessed first-hand how many students fall through the cracks of traditional funding resources, and how crucial total financial support is. She realized how often students were denied the opportunity to better themselves through educational training. Thus, Luise’s Gift was formed.

Paulene is determined to work with Luise’s Gift scholarship recipients to find a training program that best fits their needs, whether it be through a local technical college, university program or another privately-run program, similar to Quality CNA Training.

It is Paulene’s objective to meet an important need in all communities across Wisconsin; providing healthcare facilities with caring, competent, fully-trained nursing assistants like Luise. Certified Nurse Assistants impact the lives of their residents and patients, their family members, and communities at large. CNAs enrich the world at large, and Luise’s Gift is determined to do its part to help solve the current shortage of trained professionals by alleviating the financial burden of training fees.