Growing up, Shaina Mae Miranda Suguitan realized that money was not something that came easily. She was one of the former beneficiaries of the Cash-for-Work Program (CFWP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS).

Her mother sold vegetables and fruits at the market in Rizal, Kalinga, while her father worked as a farmer and carpenter. At the end of the day, she would count their earnings.

She studied a Bachelor of Science in Social Work degree at Kalinga State University (KSU). When she graduated, she was ready to work. What she was not fully prepared for was how difficult it would be to get hired. She sent out applications, went through interviews, and kept running into the same requirement: at least one year of work experience. For someone who had just finished school, it felt like a door that would not open.

Rather than wait, she took the first opening available. She worked at the Municipality of Rizal as a Job Order (JO) employee, first assigned to the Persons with Disability Office (PDAO) where she assisted clients and helped with office tasks, before moving on as a Data Encoder at the Municipal Operations Office (MOO) in Rizal, Kalinga.

She settled into the work quickly. The job required attention to detail and a willingness to learn systems and processes she had not encountered before. She got to know the staff, learned how the program operated at the municipal level, and began to understand the broader purpose behind the paperwork and the field visits.

However, in June 2025, JO contracts at the Municipality were put to a halt. Funding ran out, and she and the other JO workers were let go. It was not unexpected, short-term contracts always carried that risk. It left her without income and back to looking for work.

What happened next changed the course of things for her. She applied for the KALAHI-CIDSS CFWP through KSU, a program under DSWD that provides temporary employment and livelihood opportunities to qualified graduates and students. She was selected and deployed at the MOO in Rizal for 50 working days, beginning on 2 June 2025.

This time, she was no longer under the Local Government Unit, she was now a CFWP beneficiary under DSWD KALAHI-CIDSS. It meant she could continue working with the same team, doing meaningful work, while receiving financial assistance during a time when she needed it most.

“It was a privilege to be one of the beneficiaries of the Cash-for-Work Program that helped improve my skills, personal development, confidence, and gain more knowledge,” Shaina shared.

She assisted Community Empowerment Facilitators (CEFs) during seminars and workshops, helping with participant registration and photo documentation to keep records complete and updated.

As part of her work, she was required to conduct field visits and engage directly with community members, listening, observing, and helping facilitate processes that were part of larger community development efforts.

But her service went beyond KALAHI-CIDSS, she also assisted in Social Pension (SocPen) payouts, serving as a verifier to help ensure that the right beneficiaries received their assistance. She helped with the distribution and retrieval of Compliance Verification (CV) Forms for the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), going through the process carefully to support accurate compliance monitoring.

Whenever she had the opportunity, she also assisted clients of the PDAO, helping them secure their IDs and get registered in the system, a small but meaningful task for people who often had difficulty navigating government processes on their own

The cash assistance she received from CFWP went where it was most needed. She paid the water bill, bought groceries for her family, and set aside a portion for herself as she continued to look for stable employment. It was not a large amount, but it covered the gaps and kept things steady at home while she figured out her next steps.

But her future was already taking shape. The months she spent with KALAHI-CIDSS had given her more than just clerical skills. She had learned how to community organize; how to facilitate discussions among community members with varying needs and concerns; and how to support people in identifying and working toward solutions to their own problems.

She had learned to manage her time even when the workload piled up or the weather made field visits difficult. She had built relationships with the staff and the communities they served, and she understood, in a way that only comes from direct experience, what the Program was actually trying to do.

“I am now knowledgeable on community organizing because of the technical assistance provided during the conduct of the series of meetings, mobilizing and empowering the community members for them to be advocates of social change,” she said.

Now employed as CEF deployed in Kabugao, Apayao, her work involves facilitating community meetings, supporting barangay-level processes, and assisting communities as they go through the KALAHI-CIDSS program.

“I never imagined that a Program meant to help me would also be the same Program that would open this door for me. What made me want to stay and apply is the work itself, seeing how it really helps communities, how it empowers people to speak up and find solutions for themselves. That is what I want to be part of,” Shaina said.

For other fresh graduates who are struggling to land their first job, her message is simple: “Do not be discouraged if they say you lack experience. Find any opportunity that will let you learn and grow, even if it is not yet your dream job. Use it to build yourself. The experience you gain, the people you work with, the communities you serve, those things will carry you further than you expect,” she said.

For KALAHI-CIDSS, Shaina is both a product and a practitioner of the work it set out to do. She came in as someone who needed support, and she leaves as someone who gives it, carrying with her every barangay visited, every community meeting facilitated, and every lesson learned along the way. #DSWD-CAR, KALAHI-CIDSS RPMO, Yvonne Gracious T. Elegado, Project Development Officer III