Winter Newsletter - 2017
Successful Winter Computer Literacy Lab & ESL Classes 
Thanks to the generous support of the Comcast Foundation and our partnership with Sunrise of  Philadelphia, SEAMAAC has been able to offer an array of computer literacy and ESL 
Digital Literacy Class
classes this winter at our 8th Street Community Outreach Office to more than 65 students.

Class instructor Celine Ravaiau focused on students' engagement with the materials and with one another:  "In my class, we try to get everyone participating because I feel they will learn better like that -- having fun, interacting with other people, and learning together." 

Eh Klu Moo, who attended both the open computer lab and the computer literacy job class, said that he came to these classes because he wanted to teach his children how to use a computer and be able to help them. He feels that he has been able to improve his skills to get a better job, and that he is really happy to learn about how to send and receive emails.

The spring class schedule is now posted.
TCM staff preparing for a parent group meeting at Harrington School.
Our Truancy Case Management Program Expands

SEAMAAC's Truancy Case Management Program expanded its contract in July 2016  to cover the lower Northeast Region of Philadelphia, in addition to the Southwest Region. Thanks to this award, there will be a total of 11 new members on the TCM team.

Some of our new school partners include Frankford High School and Juniata Park Academy - the largest student enrollment and most diverse student population in the Lower Northeast Region. SEAMAAC also anticipates working with immigrants and refugees from Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Pakistan, India, Iraq and Albania. Last year, the TCM program enrolled over 2,700 students and we expect to reach even more families in 2017.

SEAMAAC is excited about this opportunity to develop more collaboration with providers. We look forward to improving access to services and building strong partnerships with schools to support the reengagement of students and their families with the school environment.

The Mifflin Square Park Planning has a new Website

You can now follow SEAMAAC and our partners'  progress on the Mifflin Square Park (MSP) Planning process through a new website, www.MifflinSquarePlan.org. As the website states, we hope to keep you informed over the 18 months and, "we will seek out people who know and care about [MSP] to shape our planning, provide and give feedback on ideas, and organize politically to push to make our ideas into reality."  To kick off the planning process, the MSP Planning team was able to collect  more than 350 surveys from community members in 12 languages.  To learn more about the project's timeline and goals, you can read WHYY's article from "PlanPhilly" from October.

This project is being led by Sang Phouansouvanh, Community Building Coordinator for the Mifflin Square Park and neighborhood planning project. Sang believes in building communities from within and strives to highlight the contributions of her local community. She holds a Master's of Science in Social Work from Columbia University concentrating in nonprofit management and was awarded the Segal Award for her year of service serving refugees and immigrants in Seattle and a LANA grant for her current social enterprise work with refugee women in Philadelphia.

A note SEAMAAC CEO, Thoai Nguyen

Friends of SEAMAAC,

In our ongoing strategic planning process we have reflected on how important it is to share SEAMAAC's work and news with you-- our community members and supporters. In spite of or perhaps because of the misinformation/disinformation propagated by a segment of the media, regarding the 'burden' that immigrant and refugee communities place on our society , we believe that it is critically important to spread the word about the resiliency, strength, and contributions of the communities we serve. We are standing by our work with marginalized communities as our most important charge in this challenging time. 
 
We aim to be more inclusive by sending regular updates about SEAMAAC's projects, programs, events, clients and staff. Each newsletter will only include highlights and current events, but we hope that you'll stay engaged via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to learn more about what goes on at SEAMAAC's offices and in the community. 

Thank you for your continued support,

Thoai Nguyen, CEO