A Home away from Home: Unabridged

By Cherami Freeman, Sponsored by McCurley Auto Dealerships

In a world where refugees and immigrants face immense challenges in adapting to new communities, organizations like B5 shine as beacons of hope, offering transformative opportunities and support for newcomers in the Tri-Cities. 

B5, formerly the Family Learning Center, aids in the assimilation of refugees and immigrants in the Tri-Cities. Since 2009, Executive Director Theresa Roosendaal and her team have helped more than 2,000 refugees learn English, practice for their citizenship tests, and find a sense of belonging in our community. What started as volunteer efforts through Theresa’s church have blossomed into a grassroots effort with global consequences that is growing by leaps and bounds. 

Each year, more than 200 refugees settle in the Tri-Cities, although that number has increased to 300 recently with an influx of refugees from war-torn countries.World Relief Tri-Cities, the local resettlement agency, helps new arrivals secure housing, acquire social security cards, undergo medical screenings, obtain initial employment, and enroll children five and older in school. B5 steps in where World Relief support ends. 

“The goal is for families to be self-sufficient in six months, but we know that’s impossible,” Theresa says. B5 continues educational and relational support beyond that time.“ I saw a need and started doing it because that’s what Jesus calls us to do. It’s got to go beyond just me,” Theresa says. “What we are today is way different than what we were in the beginning. We can’t be a little church ministry.” Through strategic partnerships, innovative programs, and unwavering commitment, B5 is redefining what's possible for refugees and immigrants in the Tri-Cities, and fostering inclusive societies along the way.

More than half of the refugees served by B5 are children, many of whom were born in or lived most of their lives in refugee camps. Most start school with limited or no proficiency in written and spoken English. “The unmet need we stepped into was the whole education piece.” Theresa says. 

Second from left, Theresa Roosendaal breaking ground with other board members.

B5 offers tutoring services and academic support to enhance learning outcomes and promote educational equity. B5 helps families navigate the administrative challenges of the primary school system. The organization also runs an after-school K-8 program for homework help, tutoring, and community enrichment. What they found [at B5] is a place of belonging. Some of the kids come even if they don’t need to do their homework. They have found their community here. They support each other.” 

Its proximity to the Kennewick Boys and Girls Club Eerke’s Clubhouse has created a unique and valuable partnership for the families served by B5. The Boys and Girls Club hosts B5’s English language acquisition classes for adults (B5 also provides childcare during the classes so parents can concentrate on learning).  In January 2022, one volunteer was teaching English classes. Today, with a contract through the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), B5 has two administrators, four paid English teachers, and a waiting list for its English classes. 

Men, women and teens gather at the Boys and Girls club for an English class offered by B5. Soon, they will have their own onsite classrooms!

The future home of B5 will share the parking lot of the Boys and Girls Club, in the neighborhood where it is most needed. It will feature large classrooms, onsite childcare, a kitchen for cooking classes and food-sharing events, a large gathering space, a computer lab and study room, and office space. Suitable furniture, classroom equipment, and storage space will help provide a dignified space for B5 to call home. 

“If you don’t have B5 here, you’re taking it away from the very population they’re intending to serve,” says Brain Ace, Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Benton and Franklin Counties (BGC). “This is the perfect spot for them. They’ve been here for 10 years. B5 has a shared use agreement with the BGC parking lot, so it allows them to build bigger on their footprint by using the Club parking lot while Club is not in session.”

“B5 was one of our first partners in this space in the fall of 2019, right when we opened. Originally it was just English classes and citizenship classes, and now they’ve added some computer training programs through a state contract that also does English acquisition and job search,” Ace says. “We just got lucky with B5 that they are a great partner in the space and that they need it when we don’t.”

Nesreen Al Muzayn is the KSD Immigrant and Refugee Coordinator. She says Westgate Elementary has 21 languages spoken by students. “If you go to the playground, you would be amazed, hearing Bosnians, Burmese, Karen, Arabic, Mandarin, all of those languages.” Nesreen helps newcomers learn about B5 in a partnership to help bridge language and educational gaps, jointly funded by a federal grant from the Refugee School Impact Program. 

B5 helps families register children 0-5 into the Ready! For Kindergarten program supported by the Tri-Cities Reading Foundation, workshops that help children and parents prepare for primary school. In collaboration with the KSD, B5 assists middle school and high school students with English, tutoring, digital literacy, cultural awareness, and soft skills for school and future employment. 

B5 recognizes that sustainable employment is vital for the successful integration of refugees and immigrants. High school graduates benefit from mentorships for career opportunities, internships, jobs, and college scholarships. 

The Family Learning Center Legacy

A small two-bedroom apartment in the Central Park Apartments located in East Kennewick houses the organization’s office, after-school program space, meeting space, and computer lab. For eleven years, it’s been in Building B, Apartment #5.

 Back when the organization was known as the “Family Learning Center,” if a neighbor asked where you were going, it was always “To B5,” thus inspiring the organization’s rebrand.

B5 outgrew its current space pre-pandemic and is now ready to provide sufficient, dignified space on a plot of land adjacent to the Boys and Girls Club Kennewick Clubhouse - Eerkes Family Branch. Through a sizable donation from Family of Faith Church when it closed its doors for good, as well as via a quiet capital campaign, B5 has already raised most of its $2.1M goal, and the organization broke ground on the planned facility in July 2023. “This is going to be an amazing legacy for everyone in that church,” says John McCoy, B5’s Capital Campaign Chairman and champion for the cause. “I can’t think of a better way for the church to leave a legacy than what they’ve done. First of all, they’ve launched this non-profit. And then, that they are really the foundation for this community learning center coming to fruition.”

A substantial grant from the Murdoch Foundation, a generous donation from the Broetje Family Trust, and “a plethora of gifts at the $10 to $25 thousand level” have raised most of this quiet capital campaign’s $2.1 million goal, McCoy says. “Every little bit helps.” 

Community Partners 

B5 recognizes that successful integration requires a strong foundation of support. The organization actively collaborates with local resettlement agencies, community centers, and volunteers to create a robust network of assistance for refugees and immigrants. By forging partnerships, B5 ensures comprehensive support in areas such as language acquisition, cultural orientation, housing, employment, and access to essential services. This collaborative approach allows B5 to address the multifaceted needs of displaced individuals and provide them with the tools to thrive in their new homes. 

The partnerships that support B5 is one of the reasons for its continued success: KSD, Kennewick Police Department, Soroptimists, The Islamic Center, Boys and Girls Club, Boy Scouts, Skyline Adventures at Ski Bluewood, Community Health, United Way, Tyson, WSU Master Gardeners, doctors and lawyers who help teach B5 families, and many others. 

Community members, family and children gather at the ground-breaking ceremony for the new location of B5

“If you’re alone, you’re not strong.  You always need connection,” Al Muzayn says. “It does not matter what you believe, and what’s your vision. But in the end, we have one goal, to serve people. 

“The community effort to support refugees and immigrants is a bigger reflection of the experience we’re trying to give these people,” Al Muzayn says. “All they need are open arms for them, and somebody can listen to them and guide them. They are talented. Whoever survived and got through everything before they arrived, I am sure they are able to do a lot here in the United States.”

By recognizing the immense potential of displaced individuals, B5 is cultivating a society that values diversity, embraces inclusivity, and thrives on the strength of its collective experiences. “You can always learn and grow and you don’t have to change your culture to appreciate someone else’s culture,” McCoy says. 

Meet Naw SuSu Moses

Susu was awarded KSD Outstanding Community Partner of the Year in 2016

In 2005, at the age of 17, Naw “SuSu” Moses escaped the genocide of her Karen people in Myanmar, and fled to Malaysia by herself. She was considered illegal there and lived and worked in secret to survive. At twenty-two, she was granted entry to the United States. 

“For the first arrival, we are afraid. But B5 warmly welcomed us. We feel that.” SuSu was alone when she arrived, but she tells her story in the plural, encompassing the Karen people in her narrative.  

SuSu’s apartment was B1, the former home of the Family Learning Center. “So B5 was my neighbor. I needed to go to school, and I enrolled in CBC to finish my high school diploma. I finished tenth grade in my country, so I knew some English.” SuSu quit school to work, married a Karen man, and got pregnant right away. “With the little one, I couldn’t go back to school. I didn’t want to quit my learning. [B5] let me go to English classes, and I met other mothers with little ones. We held our babies while we learned. Every day I got new words.” 

“My dreams didn’t come yet with the little ones. Before I went back to school, I worked a lot with B5, mostly translating. I also helped new refugees from Thailand and Malaysia, helping translate.” SuSu worked with Karen people, helping them go to school, do homework, and complete the school paperwork. I took a citizenship class and driving courses in there, too.” 

SuSu went back to CBC for one quarter before COVID. “It was good for me to take online classes at home. “I finished my high school diploma at CBC, then pursued an Early Childhood Education degree. 

Susu sees B5’s biggest gift is for moms with kids. “Their ESL class is very wonderful; they provide childcare, which is awesome. The second thing is kids in high school, the parent doesn’t know anything about education here. Everything here, touring the university, or which career they should choose, what kind of classes, we know nothing. So, all the advice, and learning which way to go, everything is in there. And for the younger kids, they need help with homework. Some parents don’t know how to read or write, either.”

SuSu’s children are second-generation B5 beneficiaries, attending soccer camp and summer camps. “All of my people, they trust B5. If their kids go to B5, they know they are safe there.” SuSu was named 2016 KSD Outstanding Community Partner of the Year for her volunteering and advocacy on behalf of the Karen community in the Tri-Cities. She is an Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) preschool teacher in Amistad Elementary School in Kennewick.

“B5 is a second home for us. There are lot of community helping centers around there, but we feel that B5 is our family because they already know us, and they reached out to us. B5, whatever we say, they already understand. We’re not afraid to ask for help. They take care of us very much.”

Meet Edward Nzinga

Edward Nzinga was three years old and the second youngest of six children when his father was killed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the Congo). “My father was serving in the military there. From what I’ve heard from family stories, the people who killed my father were looking for us.” His mother decided to cross the border into Uganda to seek refuge with her six children. “One of my brothers got lost on the border and my mother couldn’t go back to find him because she couldn’t risk losing us. So she kept moving with us. He got lost when he was 12 and we found him when he was 18. He pretty much raised himself.” 

For the first few years after leaving Congo, the family lived in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Isingiro, Uganda. Nakivale is the eighth largest refugee camp in the world, with over 100,000 people living in 79 villages over 71 square miles. From monthly food distributions, his family would receive dried corn kernels. Some, they would take to a mill and pay someone to grind corn flour. Some, they would plant in their allotment. “I used to farm with my mom a lot, potatoes, cassava, sweet potatoes.” These foods would be used to feed and support the family.  

Congo is a French-speaking country, but Uganda is an English-speaking country. “I didn’t have a chance to learn French, but my mother did because she grew up in Congo and got her nursing degree there. In Uganda, we went to school here and there whenever my mom could afford it. We knew English and could get around, but the accent was different. I had to adapt to the accent.”

Edward remembers more spanking and punishment than education at his school in Nakivale. “My mother wanted us to have a better education, so she moved us to Kampala. For the first two years there, she was able to afford school for me and my brothers. I worked at a food stand when I was twelve, and made this food called chapati. 

Originally, the family was supposed to go to Scandinavia, but Edward’s mother didn’t want her children to have to learn another language. She moved them to Congo to learn English, because she wanted the family to start over in the United States. “We waited another two years before our name popped up on the list.” We started going to interviews, doing medical checks, getting shots – lots of shots! – and we took a class on how to blend in with American society. When you do that, you know you’re very close to coming.” 

The family settled in Kennewick in 2016, twelve years after Edward’s mother crossed the border from the Congo to Uganda. “We had just moved there over the weekend, and a strange lady {Theresa Roosendaal} came in. She was super friendly, she was welcoming, and she just started asking questions.” She was focused on me, my older sister, and my younger brother. She was trying to figure out what grade we should be in.” Edwards says. 

Since Edward was 14, he was old enough for high school. But Theresa suggested Edward start middle school so he could learn more before high school. “Miss Theresa would encourage me to read books and practice summarizing books. In the technology aspect of school, in Africa, we used a notebook and a pen or pencil. That’s all we had to learn with; we never used computers.” His education in Uganda occurred when his mother could afford it. “She was more focused on working and providing for us,” Nzinga remembers. “She was working as a pastor, and wasn’t home much.” 

“Freshman year was when I started going to B5 a lot, cause as far as school, I was always good. English wasn’t that bad for me, but I struggled in math a lot.” says Edward. But Theresa didn’t believe it. “She always said I was good at math and could calculate stuff in my head. I would go to B5 for homework, and even for stuff I didn’t understand. I needed deeper understanding.”

Instead of raising his hand in class and consistently asking questions, Edward knew he could go to B5 for more help. “That really helped me out a lot in high school. After school, I would go there. They had certain days for tutoring. They would have pizza and math night. They would have questions on the board” and have open question sessions. Tutors could break out with individuals for one-on-ones.” Edward remembers 15 kids he regularly saw at B5, mostly Burmese and Somalis who would study together and play soccer after school.

Edward and his mother Helen enjoying a walk around the CBC campus.

 “It’s like a second parent that kids who move here really need. It was vital to my graduation. I feel like it’s good for the community, especially for the kids who are brand new and don’t know what to do. My American friends would come to B5 with me. It’s good for the community as a whole.”

Whenever Edward compared himself to students who breezed through classes that he struggled with, “Theresa would remind me that I spent most of my years not going to school. Those kids went to preschool and kindergarten. You do have a lot of catching up to do, but it doesn’t mean you can’t do it.”

“She kept encouraging me when I felt down, helping me with homework, helping me understand formulas and everything.” Edward’s family moved and he transferred to Kamiakin for his senior year. His access to B5 was limited by distance, but Theresa’s husband still helped Edward with his homework at the Theresa home in the evenings. 

“I really owe a lot to them and I honestly don’t know if I would have graduated without their help. I never would have gone to college without B5. Miss Theresa encouraged me, and told me I was smart enough to go to college and do anything that I want. She really devotes her life to B5 and the people.”

B5 is like a second parent to Edward. “When we moved here, not only are we adjusting to a new life, but our parents are adjusting to a new life. My family, my mom, and my older siblings started working right away. “They couldn’t drive me to school or to soccer practice. When I got into [Kennewick] High School, I wasn’t going to play soccer. I didn’t have cleats and I didn’t want to ask my mom for the money to buy cleats. I didn’t want to tell Miss Theresa why I wasn’t trying out, but my little brother told her anyway. She took me to Big 5 and bought me cleats so I could play.”

There were fun experiences, too. B5 took Edward to Silverwood, to Ski Bluewood, to the Oregon Zoo, and on hikes and boat rides.  “Those are good memories that I’ll carry for the rest of my life. B5 is a big part of my life.”

Edward took his citizenship test in 2022. “I aced it on the first try!” Edward is 21 years old and is pursuing a Criminal Justice degree at Columbia Basin College. He also holds a part-time job and lives with his family in Pasco. Edward volunteers with B5 every summer during their soccer camp and helps new families who have also come from Uganda. 

“After I get my AA, I want to try to become a firefighter. I don’t really know what my purpose is yet, but I know I want to help people. I know I want to be able to provide for my family and I know I want to work hard. At the end of the day, I’m thankful to be here, that I have the opportunity to create a life that I want, and a life for my family. I’m thankful for B5 for helping me.”

What can you do?

B5’s vision is: In the future, we will create a community of open hearts, helping hands, and supportive systems where strangers become friends and we all thrive.

“We, as the people who have been here, and have grown up here, and have been blessed by this community… what is our responsibility to these new people? And are we willing to share this blessing, to open the door to them someday sharing those positions of power and influence?” Theresa asked. 

“It’s happening in bigger cities. Are we going to let it happen here? Are we going to encourage it? Are we going to walk alongside these people so they can live well here? Or do we really want to see them stay marginalized?” 

B5’s capital campaign says “The key to their empowerment is education and a supportive community. Invest now, in our – your – community’s future.” 

“Funding as a non-profit is always a thing. It’s always hard because people don’t realize how much money it actually takes. A few years ago, we were operating on a $111K budget,” Theresa reminisces. “Today, that’s closer to $400K due to high growth with Kennewick School District and many new arrivals.” 

Donate if you can. Volunteer, if it’s right for you. Encourage your employers to hire refugees. “Give in a way that honors people,” Theresa encourages us all.. 

“What is it you want your community to become? It could be a beautiful thing,” Theresa says. “When you know people, and you know their situation, how can we say no to these people?”

Learn more and donate at thriveatb5.com