Our region is home for many immigrants and refugees that come to the United States for a better life. A wide range of organizations, services and government support aid these groups in establishing their new lives. Seattle Goodwill served approximately 4000 adult immigrants last year, speaking more than 100 native languages and originating from 113 different countries, facing multiple challenges like Yibarek.
“I am really lucky,” said Yibarek Awelachw.
There was a time when he did not feel that way. In October of 2011, Yibarek left Ethiopia to come to Seattle to be with his wife and baby. “For one year I was disappointed,” he remembered. “My wife worked and I took care of the baby – I could not find work. It was a hard time for me.”
His luck changed when he ran into one of his high school teachers from Ethiopia on the street in Seattle. His former teacher took Yibarek to Goodwill the next day and told him about Goodwill’s job training and education program. He signed up for some computer classes and now has a job where he uses his computer skills to process online orders.
Digital literacy is vitally important if a new resident is to navigate their new community; they need to prepare documents like resumes, apply for jobs, register for services, enroll their children, and access many other resources online.
With generous support from Comcast, Goodwill will develop a new digital literacy curriculum, train all of our ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) computer instructors and roll-out the new program across our 10 job training sites.
Goodwill will be able to monitor progress and rework the curriculum as needed and measure outcomes and competency gains. In addition, Seattle Goodwill will actively share this prospectus with Goodwill organizations across the country and other non-profits, while acknowledging Comcast’s invaluable support in moving this effort forward.
“With digital access being our company’s rallying call across the country,” said Steve Kipp, VP of Communications for Comcast in Washington, “we knew working with a local partner like Seattle Goodwill would be critical to making a lasting impact on our Puget Sound communities. We’re excited for this partnership with Seattle Goodwill and what the program can do for generations to come.”
