Category: IWD

ReWA recently lost a treasured staff member: Yana Morozova.

For more than three years, Yana helped hundreds of women, men, and their families find housing and apply for green cards. For immigrants and refugees without rental or credit history, to say this would be challenging would be an understatement.

Before Covid, Yana could often be found in ReWA’s Kent and MLK offices, inviting new clients to sit across her desk to talk. Even tempered and compassionate, Yana would heard their stories: she listened to all the challenges they faced, as well as their hopes and dreams—for themselves and their families.

Then she would get to work: researching rental listings, filling out forms, and making calls. This is what it takes to help clients gain access to the complex systems for housing and immigration resources. Yana was dedicated to her job. Afterall, she knows what it’s like to move to a new country and start over.

Yana was born in Kazakhstan, the daughter of a military lawyer. Her family later moved to Razan, a suburb of Moscow, and she enrolled in the Moscow Academy to study law. She worked in the legal sphere for six years.

A few years later, she was given the chance to move to the U.S. with her new husband and son. She raised her children on the eastside of Lake Washington and worked as an administrator at a retirement home.

Her cousin, Maria, said, “This was a perfect job for Yana. She was very kind. She didn’t differentiate people by status or wealth.”

She went on to earn a paralegal degree from the University of Washington, and when she came to ReWA in 2018, she worked in the immigration program, helping to process Green Card applications so immigrants can find steady employment. She also worked in the housing department to help immigrants and refugees, including some escaping domestic violence situations, find shelter—whether it be transitional or their forever home.

Her colleague and friend, Sofia said, “Yana was so thorough—always on time and accurate, which is so important for clients in stressful circumstances. And she was also compassionate. She was such a hard working lady.” Over the past few months, as her health deteriorated, Yana’s colleagues said she insisted to keep working. They said that in some way, helping others was also helping her.

In January 2022, Yana succumbed to illness after many years’ struggle. Her family and friends remembered her this way:

“If love is the yard stick to measure success in life, Yana was wildly successful. Whatever and whomever she touched is better because of her. Yana’s life is a testament to love, kindness, and service to others and can be replicated.”

Susan Amini has always loved the Law.

“I used to watch Perry Mason [a legal tv show] when I was growing up in Iran. I loved the drama of collecting evidence and seeing the U.S. jury system.”

At Tehran University, Susan studied law and political science and graduated just after the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Soon after, she married her husband—a graduate of University of Washington—and they relocated to Maryland where they welcomed a new son to the family.

But Susan didn’t forget her passion for the law.  “As soon as my son enrolled in kindergarten, I enrolled in law school.” She said her son would come home from school and say, ‘We have homework to do!’ And together they’d study.

After she finished law school, Susan and her family moved to King County, where she worked as a public defender on mostly criminal cases. After four years, she started her own firm in Bellevue where she represented clients from over 50 countries, mainly with family law and immigration matters.

“My experience as an immigrant influenced me deeply. When I had clients from other countries, I knew to ask questions, and never assume their values or priorities.”

Susan Amini is the first woman of Middle Eastern descent in the King County judiciary. She also helped found the Middle East Law Association of Washington to help bring more people from Middle East backgrounds into the legal profession. She is also encouraged by Governor Inslee’s efforts to bring people from diverse backgrounds onto the bench.

“It’s good to have people from different backgrounds, not just from different legal practices but from different cultures, too, so judges can really educate themselves about the issues people face. We do have good representation now, but we can always do better.”

For Susan, what helped her join the judiciary was a mentor who encouraged her to get judicial experience: first as a pro tem judge, that is, one appointed on a temporary basis to fill in during another judge’s absence, and then as a Hearing Officer with the Washington Bar Association.

“These experiences helped me know that I had the temperament to be a judge, which is quite different than being a lawyer who argues a case.”

“I remember how nervous I was when I took my citizenship exam four years ago.”

Although Riva is a native English speaker with a successful career in business, she remembers feeling trepidation on the day of the test.

“The process of driving to the USCIS office, of walking inside, and meeting with the citizenship officer—it was all nerve-wracking. Image how it is for people whose first language isn’t English?” This question is what motivated her to volunteer with ReWA’s citizenship program.

Riva was born into an Indian family living in Kenya, who emigrated to the U.S. when Riva was young. They settled in Connecticut and after high school, Riva graduated from Rutgers University in New Jersey with a degree in Economics. It wouldn’t be for many years before she applied for citizenship, and when she did, she was surprised by how formal and intimidating the process was. That’s when she decided she wanted to help others. 

“I wanted to be able to help them prepare—not only to understand concepts like how the U.S. Congress works, but also assure them that it’s ok to ask the USCIS officer conducting the interview to repeat a question if they didn’t understand it.”

She said many students in ReWA’s citizenship classes come from cultures in which asking questions of people in authority is discouraged. When Riva volunteers as a ReWA classroom aide, she helps them practice “small talk”, which is often part of the interview process. And she encourages them to speak up when something is unclear.

One of her favorite memories was when a student, Mai, finally passed the exam. “She was so dedicated to studying for the exam, but she was also super-nervous. So when Mai passed, it was almost more of a celebation of overcoming anxiety, than just passing the citizenship exam.”

Riva estimates she’s probably volunteered almost 150 hours with ReWA. “I volunteer with ReWA because the staff are so committed.” She said before the pandemic, she would volunteer at day-long citizenship clinics where ReWA and other organizations would set up in a large room and helped process dozens of applications in one day.

“It was great to see ReWA partnering with other organizations, together upholding this commitment to help immigrants and refugees.”

Riva said her experience at ReWA has impacted her in other ways, too. After almost a decade in the corporate world, she recently took a new job at Seattle Children’s hospital where she focuses on health equity. “I wanted to work for a mission driven organization that is based right here in our community.”