Jonalyn was in a terrible position. Should she use limited family funds to pay for a quality education for her daughter this year or allocate that money to her special needs son, who needs speech therapy?



Thanks to HireSmart, Jonalyn doesn't have to make that tough choice. She now has the money to do both after receiving an education scholarship for her 5-year-old daughter, Marciella Audrey.



"When I received the news that I was one of the people that got picked (for the scholarship), I cried," she said. "I literally cried. I cried my heart out. I was so thankful."



Jonalyn and her husband, Christopher, have a 9-year-old son who has been diagnosed with "echolalia," which is the non-voluntary repetition of another individual's speech. She said therapy has helped him communicate with the family at a basic level.



"He's doing speech therapy, and if we don't do that, we have a hard time communicating with him," she said. "But since we started doing that, he improved a lot."



Jonalyn sees the therapy as essential, but she also wants her daughter to get a strong start on her educational journey, and she says enrolling her in a quality school is a must.



"I don't want to choose between what our special needs kid needs and what our daughter needs," she said.



Jonalyn has been employed by HireSmart Virtual Employees for four years, serving a property management company in the U.S., primarily handling lease renewals.



She applied for one of 20 scholarships HireSmart Virtual Employees offered this year to the children of its employees through its nonprofit arm, HireSmart Cares. HireSmart is the leader in the virtual employment market in looking out for its staff, offering good wages, health and dental insurance, quality training and support, leadership courses, and educational scholarships for the children of its employees.



"What HireSmart has been doing helping kids, that's different," said Jonalyn. "I've never heard of a company that does that, you know."



Jonalyn smiles, talking about Marciella Audrey. She says her child is energetic and loves to dance and draw. Jonalyn is a singer and used to perform mellow love tunes with a band but now enjoys the occasional karaoke party.



"I kind of want her (Marciella Audrey) to try singing as well," she said.



Jonalyn says her daughter is young and is not fully aware yet of her brother's challenges, but she said understanding will come with time.



"We kind of just tell her that your big brother doesn't understand the way you understand, and he's going to a different school than you," she said. "She says, 'OK.' But you know, she's 5. She'll understand that later on with guidance."



Jonalyn said she is elated to give both children what they need, and she voiced gratitude to HireSmart CEO Anne Lackey.



"It is an honor to have been chosen as a recipient, and I am deeply appreciative of the opportunity given," she said. "This program will make a tremendous difference in our kids' lives."

"An answered prayer" — that's how Ina describes the educational scholarship for her son through her employer, HireSmart Virtual Employees.



Ina, an employee of HireSmart since May 2022, and her husband, Mark, have two young boys, Isaiah Ambert, "Ice," 4, and Ishaan Amani, "Amani," 2.



Ina applied for an educational scholarship for her son, "Ice," through HireSmart so that he could attend a local Kumon school, which specializes in teaching reading and math to young children. HireSmart CEO Anne Lackey informed Ina that her family received one of 19 HireSmart scholarships this school year.



"I was so thankful, she said. "I felt so blessed in that moment when Anne confirmed that I got the scholarship. I was actually thanking God for it because I prayed for it. My husband and I both prayed for it (the scholarship)."



Ina shed tears when talking about receiving the scholarship, noting that her family could not enroll Ice in Kumon without financial assistance. She said giving her kids the best education possible is a priority for the family.



"If not for the scholarship, we wouldn't be able to have our child enrolled in the school," she said. "So it's really a great help for us. We can see how our kid is developing and see how much he has learned."



Ina said Ice is an inquisitive, confident, and empathetic boy who loves watching "Blippi," learning about animals, and is fascinated with excavators, garbage trucks, and other big machinery.



"He's also a part of our church choir, so he loves to sing," she said, adding that he always asks questions about whatever he sees and hears.



Ina and her family attend church on Sundays and spend time doing fun activities on Saturdays.



"We go out or play in indoor playgrounds," she said. "We also love swimming, so we go to beaches whenever there's a time."



Ina said her son enjoys attending school and asks about it when he's not there.



"They (Kumon) are teaching the kids to have independence when it comes to learning to study at home," she said. "I would say that it's really true because, at 4, our child can already study independently."



Ina said her job at HireSmart working for a U.S. client in the community association management industry is a blessing.



She enjoys being able to work from home and watch over her young children.



"As a parent, you will always think of your kids whenever you're not at home, so I believe it will be really tough working in an office-based company right now for me," she said. "So HireSmart is very a big blessing for us."

Vanessa says her daughter is a “happy kid,” and she wants Jana Valerie to stay that way.



Thankfully, a scholarship through HireSmart Cares will do a lot to keep the smile on the seventh grader’s face since she can now remain at a private school in the Philippines with her friends.



Vanessa, a HireSmart employee, says a private school education is far superior to a public school experience in the Philippines.



“I’m also a graduate of private school, so I know the quality of education it can give to my daughter,” she said. “I’m so thankful to HireSmart for helping me sustain the education of my daughter.”



HireSmart provides its employees with medical and dental insurance, leadership training opportunities, and family scholarships, as well as a work-from-home lifestyle for good wages.



Vanessa and her husband, Edgar, have two children, Jana and a son, Josiah Vans, who just started college and plans to be a civil engineer.



The family could afford to send both to private school, but with Josiah moving to college, where costs are double or triple the grade school expenses, Vanessa and Edgar needed to enroll Jana in a public school.  



“She (Jana) didn’t complain; she understood our financial status, but I know, as a mom, she would want to retain her school,” said Vanessa.



She added that Jana was “so happy” when she learned she could stay at the private school with her friends. Jana plans to be an architect one day.



“If by God’s will, they will both be successful, that’s really great to have an architect and a civil engineer at the same time in the family,” said Vanessa.



The proud mom says her daughter is a “very friendly, positive, outspoken kid” and the “joker of her class.” She doesn’t remember her ever getting lower than a 90 on tests.



“I’m not really the type of mom who would push her, but she has that determination to really do well in school,” she said.



Jana participates in math and badminton clubs, and the family plays badminton on the weekends.



“We’re playing with her whenever we can, me and my husband,” she said.



Vanessa has served a community association management client in the U.S. for four years.



“I enjoy the work very much,” she said. “I think I’m the longest-staying Filipino assistant in the (client’s) company. They treat me with respect. It’s a fun environment. There’s pressure, but you can’t really feel it when you’re having fun with your co-employees.”



Vanessa said she also enjoys working for HireSmart, which hires virtual employees to work with their U.S.-based clients. She said she’s unaware of other companies providing families of their virtual employees with scholarships for education.



She thanked HireSmart co-founder and CEO Anne Lackey for helping her family.



“I’m happy we have this offered, and I would like to personally express how grateful I am to Anne and HireSmart for thinking about the employees,” she said. “This is a very good program for the employees because it affects our loved ones. And we are much more appreciative and motivated to work if our loved ones are happy. For me, that’s really true. They are the reason why I’m working hard.”