For Capital Bank employees, Hispanic Heritage Month is a time to give thanks as well as make a difference for others. The journeys of three bank employees in particular have provided motivation to be in the financial services industry and help others.
Resilience and helping others
Grethell Suarez, is a Capital Bank financial center manager who was born in Cuba. She learned at an early age about perseverance and explains this has led to helping others in less fortunate circumstances.
“When you grow up in a communist country, you become empathetic towards the life journeys of others,” explains Suarez. “In many Cuban neighborhoods, police officers came to homes often for no reason whatsoever and our family members will always remember these visits. My father was not a fan of the government and this resulted in harassment towards all of us.
“I was nine years old when we were told that a large boat would pick us up and take us from the island,” adds Suarez. “We first had to walk a long way and suddenly a big truck pulled up with police officers jumping out, placing guns in our faces.
“We were put in a jail cell and they took my dad away from my brother and my mother. We were full of mud from the long walk and the police began interrogating me, my mom and even my two-year-old brother. My poor brother was a young child and they questioned him. My dad went to jail for two years and all the students at my school knew what happened. I wasn’t treated well.”
Eventually, Suarez and her family escaped Cuba and made it to the United States in 2000.
“I spoke no English whatsoever,” she says. “I committed to learn this great country’s language and did so by watching television shows. Every chance I had, I’d speak with Americans in English. All of this helped me become a better person.
“I’m blessed to be part of a great team at the bank. We have open communications and everyone seems to understand my Hispanic culture. I admire and respect the American culture, this is my second country and I’m committed to making a difference for clients.”
Giving Back
Isabel Dominguez is an Aventura financial center manager for Capital Bank, who fled Cuba for Spain at the age of six years old. Finally, in what seemed as a long year and a half there by the welcoming Spaniards, she was able to enter the United States with her family and establish residency in the U.S.
“One of my fondest memories of a Hispanic tradition that continues today is from when I was a young child, my father took me to a farm to feed the pigs,” explains Dominguez. “This tradition was important to me since it allowed me to spend a tremendous amount of time with my father and this leads to the annual “Noche Buena” on the 24th of December.
“Today we still celebrate this custom of the whole family getting together and spending the day roasting a pig in our Caja China, along with the preparation of white rice, black beans, yucca and deserts such as delicious turron or buyuelos,” adds Dominguez. “My family’s Hispanic Heritage includes traditions with food, since it is a large part of us getting together and having plenty of time for conversations, which take place now, mostly in English. My two boys are now young men and even though they’re both busy building their professional careers, we find time to spend together at least once a year.”
Dominguez shares that these experiences have led her, along with her family, to being involved with giving back to others during food drives, including the Kiwanis’ Thanksgiving efforts for the less fortunate, Christmas celebrations for families in need and sharing the importance of giving back by her children.
“I’m proud to be a Cuban American and embrace the multitude of cultures that are part of my neighborhood in Miami,” says Dominguez.
Making A Difference
Nery Gonzalez arrived in the United States on a Freedom Flight from Cuba with her parents and five siblings to escape the Fidel Castro communist regime. She was only 12 years old and will always remember the struggles her family faced in a new country and the people who helped, including those at the Catholic Church.
“In the early years, my father worked in the farm lands of Homestead as a laborer, making a wage of two dollars per hour,” Gonzalez says. “I learned at a young age the importance of helping others, something my mother had taught us when we lived in Cuba. This gave us a sense of helping others and impacts of how good it feels to make a difference for those in need of a smile or attention.”
Today, Gonzalez is a Capital Bank Development Manager based in Coral Gables, where she helps first-time home buyers and lends a hand to disadvantaged youth.
“One of my biggest passions is volunteering for Habitat for Humanity and I especially enjoy being involved with placing flooring in homes,” Gonzalez explains. “This month, our team worked at a house for a single mother with twins.
“I share my Hispanic roots and traditions with our second generation of Cuban-Americans, especially my 12 nieces/nephews, along with 14 great nieces/nephews. I’ll always appreciate those early years that brought opportunities from the United States, which too often are taken for granted.”
