In the last Census, the under-count cost King County hundreds of millions in federal funding. This year, ReWA is partnering with Census 2020 to make sure historically under-counted refugee and immigrant communities get their fair share of resources for education, housing, transportation, and more. On March 12, the Census 2020 form will be available online in Arabic, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Japanese, Korean,…
In late January, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) announced that the U.S. Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) public charge rule would go into effect while legal challenges are heard in lower courts. Most of ReWA clients are refugees and asylees and therefore exempt from the public charge rule. However, the steady stream of anti-immigrant policies from the…
On February 5 ReWA gathered with hundreds of activists for Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Day in Olympia. With policy flyers in hand, women and men, immigrants, refugees and native-born, met with their legislators and urged them to support several bills in the state Legislature, including: a ban on private prisons in Washington State (SB 6442/HB 2576) the Keep Courthouses Open…
Last month, ReWA’s Kent classroom was host to a dozen students proudly displaying their diploma in Child Care Basics, the first step in a career in early childhood education. Florence held her diploma and smiled proudly. “I have 40 years of experience teaching, but without credentials it was difficult to get a job.” ReWA program coordinator, Sara Cooley said, “Our…
Huong Nguyen is an ESL volunteer with some deep roots with ReWA. Her mother was Emmanuelle Chi Dang, and you may recognize her portrait from the ReWA lobby. “My mother was an English teacher in Vietnam. She was a very active person, so after she resettled in Seattle, she had a vision to help Vietnamese refugees. Many of them had…