Our first feature is about a single mother of three children who came from a Latin American country. In her native country, she had divorced her husband and lived in poverty afterward. Though she worked as a makeup artist in a salon, she could not provide for her family and afford their needs. To find a better future for herself and her children, she decided she wanted to move to the US. Living in poor conditions, she did not want to wait years for her asylee status to be granted—especially since there is a low percentage of approval rates for asylee status for people from her country. So, she made the difficult decision to move herself and her two children, while pregnant, to the US by crossing the border in Mexico to Texas, to finally arrive in Washington by car. She had heard that Washington was accepting of refugees and immigrants, and thought it would be a good place to raise her kids.

After arriving in Washington, she began her resettlement process through an agency. She was first put into a shelter at a church and stayed there for one month. Thankfully, the agency placed her in an apartment. But without a work permit and other documentation, she struggled to pay rent. The agency promised to pay her rent for four months while she was applying for a work permit and finding work. For reasons unclear, the agency did not pay the required rent. She soon faced eviction and had to find a new place for herself and now three children—one a newborn. She got on a waiting list for a lawyer to represent her, while other benefits like EBT and TANF took a long time to receive. The resettlement agency she was with finally agreed to pay her rent in a lump sum after a court order.

This was around the time she became a client of ours. We noticed her positive and can-do attitude and her strong self-belief. Through our case workers, we got her a work visa and benefits, and enrolled her children in school and daycare. She now works in downtown Seattle as a housekeeper and is self-sufficient. She is happy to be able to take care of her children better than in her native country. Even though we have closed her case, she often calls our case workers saying that she is doing well and giving us updates on her accomplishments.

Her story is illustrative of many refugees’ and immigrants’ stories: trying to escape dire situations, and once arriving in the US, finding more hardship, until you reach the milestone of self-sufficiency. A single mom with two children, and one more on the way, has to have that resolve and self-belief to be able to overcome the odds. Not all newcomers in the US do, but in this case, this mother gained her place here through sheer will.