The gift of Language

Lao Family is seeking dedicated volunteers who want to help newly arrived refugees learn English to help them in school, find a job, and integrate into the community.

Please join us for our upcoming volunteer tea party and learn more about how you can help:

Oakland Day of Inclusion

Sacramento Citizenship Fair

2011 Pacific McGeorge Citizenship Fair

November 19, 2011

When: Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Where: Pacific McGeorge School of Law Student Center at 3200 Fifth Ave. in the Oak Park neighborhood of Sacramento (locator map).

Description: Free legal services will be provided by law students and Sacramento attorneys to assist qualified individuals with completing and filing naturalization applications (N-400 and N-600) and assistance with fee waiver applications to apply for naturalization. Study materials for Civics and English tests will also be provided.

Note: The event is free and open to the public. No pre-registration is required.

For more information: Call 916.739.7138 or email McGeorgeEvents@pacific.edu.

Download the event flier in ...

• Arabic
• Chinese, simple
• Chinese, traditional
• English
• Farsi
• Hmong
• Romanian
• Russian
• Spanish
• Vietnamese

Detailed description:

Sponsors of the fair include Univisión/Telefutura, NALEO Education Fund, League of Women Voters of Sacramento County, and the Immigrant & Refugee Trauma Institute of Sacramento. Numerous student groups from Pacific McGeorge and the University of the Pacific's Stockton campus are also involved in the effort.

Congresswoman Doris Matsui, California Senate President Darrell Steinberg, and Assemblyman Roger Dickinson are among the invited speakers. Faculty and staff members of Pacific McGeorge's Community Legal Services branch will assist organizing professors Raquel Aldana and Blake Nordahl at the event.

• Receive Free Legal Help Completing and Filing Your Naturalization Application (N-400 and N-600)
• Receive Free Help with the Fee Waiver to Apply for Naturalization, If You Qualify
• Receive Study Materials for Civics and English Tests
• Free blood pressure and vision screening provided by Dept. of Public Health Sciences UC Davis School of Medicine

Why attend?

With Citizenship:

• You can vote.
• You could bring your children and spouse more quickly to the U.S. and sponsor your parents, brothers, sisters and married children.
• You may choose to apply for government jobs.
• You will gain more security to stay in the country.
• You will access greater economic rights, potentially including healthcare.

Documents to Bring to the Citizenship Fair:

• Your green card
• Copy of your spouse's U.S. birth certificate or citizenship certificate (if applicable)
• All divorce or death certificates for you and your spouse's prior marriages (if applicable)
• Your Social Security card
• Your foreign passport, if applicable
• Two passport style photographs
• Filing fee: 2 personal checks for $595 and $85 or fee waiver documents (see below)
• If married to a U.S. citizen, a copy of your marriage certificate
• If male who lived in the U.S. from the ages of 18-26, evidence of Selective Service registration (waiver may be available)
• Birth certificates and green cards of all children (if applicable)
• Documentation of all arrests and/or convictions, including reasons for the arrest, date, place, and outcome/disposition. Bring ALL arrest and court documents, even if charges were dropped.

Information to Bring:

• List of all employers or schools for the past five years, including addresses and dates employed
• List of all addresses (including zip code) where you have lived for the past five years
• List of all trips outside the U.S. during the last five years, including dates of each exit and reentry
• Information about all current and former spouses and all children, including full legal name, date of birth, Social Security number, alien number, date and place of naturalization, and current address
• Information about your own and your spouse's current and prior marriages, including date of marriage, date marriage ended, and how marriage ended (divorce/death/annulment)

Fee Waiver

Depending on your household income and assets, you may qualify for a waiver of the filing fees. If you want consideration of whether you are eligible for the fee waiver, please bring the following:

• 2010 Federal Income Tax Return and;
• Recent pay statement of all working members of household; or
• Evidence of current public benefits received such as SSI, Food Stamps, Medicaid or Cash Aid.
• Documentation of essential monthly expenses including rent/mortgage payment, utilities, food, and childcare.

You May Be Eligible to Become a U.S. Citizen If:

• You are at least 18 years of age and;
• You have been a lawful permanent resident (LPR)
  • For at least five years; or
  • For three years if you have been married to a
  U.S. citizen for three years with whom you still live (waiver of living together requirement may be available for victims of domestic violence); or
  • You have qualifying military service; and
• You have continuously resided in the U.S. for the past five years with no single absence longer than six months; and
• You have been physically present in the U.S. for at least half of the required time; and
• You have resided in the USCIS district in which you are applying for citizenship for at least three months; and
• You speak, read and write basic English.

Seniors are NOT exempt except:

• If age 55 and older and an LPR for 15 years or more (at filing time);
• If age 50 or older and an LPR for 20 years (at filing time);
• If a physical or developmental disability lasting at least one year impairs learning English. Extra form and doctor explanation required.
• You have good moral character; and
• You are attached to the principles of the U.S. Constitution (generally requires a written and oral oath, with limited religious exemption).

Job Fair, Nov. 10, 2011

click image to view flyer

Good Jobs Now!  Career Fair

Thursday, November 10, 2011, 10:00AM to 3:00PM

Oakland Coliseum - Eastside Club, 7000 Coliseum Way, Oakland, CA 94621

Accessible by public transportation: Take BART to the Oakland Coliseum or AC Transit bus lines: 45, 46, 73, 98, 356, 805

This event is FREE and open to the public!

- free event parking -

Dress for success and bring resumes for this unique opportunity!

Wheelchair accessible

Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities.

For TDD services, please call: (510) 622-4305 or (510) 563-5244

This event is a multi-agency collaboration between the Office of Congresswoman Barbara Lee, the Oakland Private Industry Council, the Oakland Workforce Investment Board, the City of Oakland Enterprise Zone, the Office of Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson,the Office of Oakland City Council President Larry Reid, and the Alameda Labor Council, AFL-CIO, Alameda County Building and Construction Trades Council, AFL-Office of Congresswoman CIO, Office of Assemblyman Sandre Swanson.

Now enrolling: Effective Parenting Classes

Project Re-Connect in Collaboration with OUSD and Havenscourt School Offers Effective Parenting Classes!!

DO YOU FEAR YOUR CHILD MAY BE ATTRACTED TO GANGS OR INVOLVED IN A GANG?

• Do you fear your child may be hanging out with the wrong crowd?
• Do you live in a neighborhood where crime is prevalent?
• Do you know your child’s friends?

Program begins:  Thursday, November 3, 2011

New Time: 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.*

Held: Auditorium, 1390 66thAve. Oakland, CA

For more information      call: (510) 482-1738

Classes held on the following Thursdays:

• November 03, 2011*   Self Esteem: Communication     
• November 10, 2011     Violence Prevention 911- 411      
• November 17, 2011     Conflict Resolution
• December 01, 2011*    Substance use and abuse
• December 08, 2011     Nutrition/Stress
• December 15, 2011     Putting it all Together/ Celebration            

 *November 3rd and December 1st class will begin at 6:30pm