From 1998 to 2022, Jenny Doyle climbed the ladder to gain her new title as Nurse Coordinator through KenCrest’s Tuition Reimbursement program. 

 By Sydney Kerelo

Nurse Coordinator of the Philadelphia region, Jenny Doyle, utilized KenCrest’s Tuition Reimbursement program to help her graduate from Montgomery County Community College to become a Registered Nurse (RN).

“It took me five years to complete, but I was an LPN when I first started, and now I’m an RN,” beams Doyle. “When you’re going to school, and you see the light at the end of the tunnel, you know the number of student loans you’ll have. You’re talking $20,000 or more just for a nursing program. But now, I’m walking out with only $10,000 in student loans; it’s almost cut in half because of KenCrest.”

Jenny Doyle

Doyle started her journey with KenCrest in 1998 when her son went to school at the former Southampton Center. He was on the autism spectrum and was receiving services from the center. At the time, Doyle was working weekends as a nurse to support her two little children until one day when she walked into the KenCrest Center and asked one of the supervisors for volunteer work.

“They told me I can’t volunteer; I was going to have to apply for the position,” laughs Doyle. “So, I applied and was hired as their administrative assistant. It was extra money for the kids and me then, but once the Southampton Center closed, I moved to the Birth to Three programs in Bucks County to do administrative work there.”

“Then I found out that KenCrest had this residential program, and they were hiring nurses,” adds Doyle. “I called the Director at the time, Debbie Lord, every day looking for nursing jobs, and I think she finally got sick of hearing from me and hired me to do on-call at first. Then a position opened, and I jumped right at it, and here we are, 25-years-later, and I’m still here.”

Not only did KenCrest help support her future career, but they helped her raise her two children. Both her son and daughter attended KenCrest’s Early Learning Centers, not only for the convenience it offered but for its integrated classrooms.

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Doyle’s son was able to learn in a classroom surrounded by children of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities without fear of being different than them. At the same time, her daughter attended the daycare portion and could see and play with many other children.

“Both of my kids got a good education early,” says Doyle. “They were able to learn about people with differences; they learned that while people may look or learn a little differently, that’s okay. It was good for them to learn a lesson in diversity.”

Since her time at KenCrest’s Early Learning Center, Doyle has grown from working as an LPN to an RN to a Nurse Coordinator.

Doyle remembers one day six years ago when she sat down with Rose Kehoe, the Executive Director of Healthcare Services at KenCrest, and she asked, “why didn’t you go back to school?” That single question changed Doyle’s entire career, and Kehoe was the one who convinced Doyle to go back to school to become an RN.

“I feel valued by KenCrest and what they’ve done,” says Doyle. “Rose Kehoe’s encouragement to go back to school and do what I put off for so long. She’s always been my mentor, someone to say, ‘you can do this,’ and I couldn’t be happier.”