One of the benefits of being a small business owner is making time to give back to community. We are a nation of immigrants, and I’ve been looking for ways to help immigrants in the South Sound.

Tacoma Community House — Citizenship Classes

I’m proud to help immigrants prepare for their U.S. citizenship interview as a volunteer in Tacoma Community House‘s Citizenship Classes. This weekend I volunteered in a citizenship class for the first time — so inspiring!

I teamed up with another volunteer, and we met with three people independently (three people from three different continents). In reviewing civics questions, I helped them learn more about the U.S. government (for example, what are the three branches of government, what are two major political parties, who is one of your U.S. Senators). At the same time, I learned more about their counties and cultures. It’s a great learning environment for the immigrants and volunteers!

Background — Citizenship Celebration

In working for the Pierce County Auditor‘s Office last year, I learned about the Auditor’s work with Tacoma Community House, the Washington State Sons of the American Revolution and others to hold a Citizenship Celebration. In this celebration, immigrants take the final step in becoming U.S. citizens and are honored in Pierce County. As U.S. citizens, they can vote — something many are excited to do!

The Pierce County Auditor received an award from the Sons of the American Revolution for the Auditor’s work on the Citizenship Celebration. As a social media contractor for the Auditor, I took pictures of the award ceremony. You can see it here:

My education and work experience should help immigrants in this citizenship class. I earned a Master’s degree in international relations and started my career working for a U.S. Senator and then a federal agency in Washington, DC (the legislative and executive branches). I’ve made friends from all over the world, and am excited to help make a difference in my community!

For more information

• Visit Tacoma Community House’s webpage to learn more about their free Citizenship Classes.

— Liz Satterthwaite, Engage Northwest. EngageNorthwest@gmail.com