Theresa Roosendaal

About 7 years ago I helped my church begin a ministry to refugee families in Kennewick that we call the Family Learning Center. Last year we became a seperate non-profit. The Family Learning Center's mission is to help refugees thrive in their new homeland. We do this mainly through adult ESL and citizenship classes and after school homework club for school aged kids. Although we began this ministry through our connection to the Karen/Burmese community, we serve refugees from Somalia, Iraq, Eritrea, and Colombia as well. My work with this ministry has grown into a part-time job with World Relief. My title is Refugee Youth Education Coordinator, and I work closely with the school district to advocate and support high school students who are recent arrivals. I live with my husband and 16 year old daughter in Kennewick. We also have 3 adult children.