Job Search Success Story

Hussein is a refugee from Iraq who arrived in May 2022, and was immediately enrolled in our Job Search program. Hussein had worked as a painter and construction worker for 10 years while he was living in Jordan. He wanted to continue painting or learning more construction skills, so we suggested work in Apartment Maintenance - a job that is always available and has decent pay.

RRO applied to jobs and reached out to companies that were a reasonable bus ride from where Hussein was living. A local company named LAG Enterprises responded enthusiastically, as they were already looking to support refugees, but had not found a way. Despite Hussein's limited English, they saw his experience and positive attitude and were willing to train and work through the language barrier.

Hussein has been well-supported by his manager, Lisa, and enjoys being able to gain even more skills as he renovates apartments, keeps the grounds clean, and takes care of tenant work orders. Lisa and Hussein communicate through the Google Translate app when needed, and RRO brought an Arabic interpreter to help in-person with hiring paperwork and any miscommunications that came up.

Hussein is strongly motivated to improve his English and has been taking evening classes at South Seattle College as well as having Saturday sessions with an RRO volunteer, focusing especially on English phrases that are relevant to his work. For the future, he wants to continue to expand the skills he can bring to work and study areas like electricity and tiling.

LAG Enterprises was impressed with Hussein's work performance and RRO's support throughout hiring and his first months, and even hired a second refugee from RRO's job search program in August. We are glad to see Hussein supported by his manager, the company, and volunteers - and to see his hard work and determination pay off!

Welcome Ukrainians!

The Uniting for Ukraine program has brought many Ukrainians to the Seattle area and our office is working hard to help them feel welcome. Sponsors in the area are welcoming family and friends and helping them navigate the US systems to obtain work permits, cash and food assistance. For those who need extra help, our office is able to connect clients with resources, such as rental assistance while they’re waiting for their EAD cards.

One of our contractors, Vita, came to the US with her family from Ukraine in March. She started out as a volunteer to help with our growing Uniting for Ukraine program. As Svitlana says, “She helps with anything we ask,” and does so with a big smile. After seeing her hard work, we were able to hire her to help us regularly. In her spare time, she attends ESL at Highline College. After she learns enough English, she hopes to study to become a lawyer since that’s what she practiced in Ukraine. She has experience in civil courts in a variety of areas including family and housing law. We appreciate all of her help and wish her the best in her continuing education!

Pregnancy Workshop Success

This year the Preferred Communities (PC) team worked with a group of pregnant women from Afghanistan to provide information about giving birth in the US. We hosted a workshop with midwife Jackie DuBois to tell them about getting regular checkups, what to expect during delivery and self-care for the first month postpartum.

Countries have different standards and procedures for health care and giving birth in a new country can be daunting. As one client said, “The thought of giving birth to your first child away from your family in a completely new country with a different language and culture can be crazy. But the RRO provided a timely and effective Pregnancy and Childbirth in the US Workshop that helped me to learn a lot of important things in this regard and be able to give safe birth and take care of my beautiful son Yusuf and niece Azada.” Clients were able to ask questions with an interpreter in a relaxed environment and learn from the questions their peers asked as well.

Thanks to the help of our PC team, our clients were able to access the resources they needed to feel comfortable giving birth in their new country. Now we are happy to help them continue to access resources for their babies, such as offering diapers and baby blankets. We have also arranged a postpartum workshop for our clients to ensure a full recovery after giving birth.

Here are a couple of pictures of newborns whose moms took part in the class!