For Bronx resident Evelyn Burgos-Ramirez there is no prouder feeling than serving her country. Burgos-Ramirez, along with three of her family members were all in the armed forces.
Burgos-Ramirez,42, spent a year in the Navy and said it taught her discipline, structure and much more.
“Looking back, I may have had some hiccups, but it did help me develop into who I am today,” she told the Bronx Times. “I definitely always had a respect for it (armed forces).”
Raised in Rockaway, Queens, Burgos-Ramirez grew up near the beach and loved the ocean. She learned her work ethic from her parents. Her father was an Army veteran and worked for the NYC Department of Sanitation and her mom was a retired bus driver.
While Burgos-Ramirez looked up to her parents, she originally wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. It was Sept. 11, 2001, that gave her the push to enlist. In 2002, both she and her sister, Sandra Mantilla, signed up for the Navy.
Burgos-Ramirez was a ship serviceman on an aircraft carrier in Norfolk, Va., for a year.
“I loved boot camp actually,” she said. “There’s a lot of studying you have to do that people don’t realize.”
After the Navy, Burgos-Ramirez worked in the hotel industry for four years and was a housekeeper for a brief period as well. In 2009, she and her husband Anthony relocated to the Pelham Parkway section of the Bronx.
Moving to the Boogie Down changed her life. She became a stay-at-home mom and a born-again Christian.
As a newly born-again Christian, a wife and a mom of four, Burgos-Ramirez was truly happy. She loved the Bronx and was enjoying life.
“I’m very driven by my faith and what God has done in my life,” she said.
She did some nursing school from 2016 to 2019, but soon realized this was not the path for her. So, in 2019 she rejoined the work force doing risk management at a construction company.
However, she left that job to support her husband when he was named a pastor at a church in Connecticut. They stayed in New England for a couple of years and in 2023 moved back to the Bronx, this time settling in the Morris Park neighborhood.
Burgos-Ramirez now wanted to find a career. Through her connections at her previous construction job, they told her about a company in Manhattan, Broadway Builders. She then applied and in October 2023 was hired as a project engineer. What made the transition smooth was that about 75% of the people from her old job were at Broadway. She told the Times she has a found a home at Broadway Builders.
“I find it [development] fascinating,” she said. “I think if you love what you do, you are always willing to learn.”
According to Burgos-Ramirez, her goals are to become an assistant project manager and a project manager.
“I’m so grateful to be there,” she said. “I have such a great team. My project manager he’s always willing to teach us.”
