The Charlotte Jewish News - September 2012 - Page 16
Communitv Mews
Classes Ease the Way to Citizenship for Refugees
By Karen Brodsky
Since February of this year,
Carolina Refugee Resettlement
Agency (CRRA) has been offering
citizenship classes for refugees,
asylees, immigrants, and interna
tionals who are already lawful per
manent residents (green card hold
ers) and in the U.S. for a specified
amount of time. Those who were
bom in the U.S. may not be famil
iar with the process and take their
citizenship for granted.
Not so the 37 students of 14 dif
ferent nationalities, coming from
North America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, and South America, who
have taken CRRA’s citizenship
preparation classes taught by
Dottie Shattuck.
With funding from Flomeland
Security’s U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS)
new Citizenship Public Education
and Awareness Initiative, CRRA
offers these classes and reaches
out to immigrants to raise aware
ness about the rights, responsibili
ties, and importance of U.S. citi
zenship, as well as the educational
resources available to lawful per
manent residents and immigrant
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serving organizations. Shattuck
has a master’s degree in
Administrative Leadership and
Adult Education from the
University of Wisconsin and has
been an English Language
Instructor at CRRA since 2005,
where she has also tutored for cit
izenship preparation. Additionally,
Shattuck has taught Adult English
as a Second Language and
Citizenship Preparation classes at
Central Piedmont Community
College in Charlotte and at the
Flmong Community United
Methodist Church in Milwaukee,
WI.
Shattuck has seen the fee for
the citizenship application rise
from $95 to $595. In 2008, she
also witnessed USCIS revise the
citizenship test.
The CRRA classes are current
ly in their third session. They run
for seven weeks, twice a week,
and use a 12 chapter text book.
Classes include the qualifications
to be a citizen and the application
process, U.S. geography, U.S. his
tory, U.S. civics, and the USCIS
interview.
The path to becoming a citizen
begins with filling out an applica
tion for which CRRA offers assis
tance. Applicants must be finger
printed and have an oral interview.
The interviewer can ask as many
or as few questions as he/she sees
fit from the ten page application.
Very important to the interviewers
is that the applicants possess good
moral character.
The test consists of an inter
view; 10 questions from the list of
100 about U.S. history and civics,
of which the applicant must
answer six correctly; and reading
and writing based upon the 100
Rosh Hashanah Day 1 *
10:00 am, Monday, September 17, 2012
Tashlich - Rosh Hashanah
3:30 pm, Monday, September 17,2012
Location to be announced In service program
and online one day prior to service
Rosh Hashanah Day 2 **
10:00 am, Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Kol Nidre *
6:45 pm, Tuesday, September 25,2012
Yom Kippur *
10:00 am, Wednesday, September 26,2012
12:30 pm (appx.) Ylzkor / Healing Services
5:30 pm MIncha Service
6:30 pm Nellah / Concluding Service
7:56 pm Break the Fast Immediately after Nellah
* Fellowship Hall
’ Altken Classroom
A warm, supportive and nurturing
Reconstructionist congregation
located in historic Dilworth with
Shabbat services and a full spectrum
of Holiday observances, as well as
religious educational options for both
adults and children.
Avondale Presbyterian Church
2821 Park Road. Charlotte, NC
For information, call 980.225.5330,
email membership@havurattikvah.org
or visit www.havurattikvah.org
questions. Applicants
have three chances to
read a sentence cor
rectly when answering
one of the questions.
Applicants can pass
any part of the test and
have one chance to
repeat a part they
failed. If they do not
pass, they must apply
to USCIS again and
pay the fee anew.
The fee for the citi
zenship application is $680.00
($85 for fingerprinting and $595
for the actual application). There
are fee waivers available for low
income applicants. Health disabil
ity waivers, though difficult to
secure, are available to accommo
date certain conditions, including
cognitive disabilities that make
learning difficult. The condition
must be certified by a physician.
Students in Dottie Shattuek’s eitizenship elass learn
to identify loeations on the U.S. map.
Shattuck relates that her stu
dents have “tremendous enthusi
asm. Of course, they are scared
and nervous. The possibility of
voting in the next election is very
exciting to them.”
She also tells of two women in
one of her classes who struck up
a unique friendship. One, a
Meskhetian Turk (from the former
(Continued on page 17)
JELF Awards Record
$675,000 in Interest-Free
Student Loans for the 2012-
2013 Academic Year
The Jewish Educational Loan
Fund (JELF) has awarded more
than $675,000 in interest-free
loans to Jewish students through
out Georgia, Florida, South
Carolina, North Carolina, and
Virginia for the 2012-2013 school
year. A record number of appli
cants came to JELF seeking to fill
the gap between the resources
they assembled through grants,
loans and scholarships and the
real cost of their education. JELF
responded to the rising need by
loaning more than ever before in a
single year. JELF loaned over
$53,000 to students in the
Charlotte area.
While JELF currently adminis
ters over $3.6 million in outstand
ing loans, it has maintained its
impressive 99% repayment rate.
As students repay their loans,
JELF uses those payments to
make new loans, creating a circle
of tzedakah. JELF loans are need-
based and can be used for full
time undergraduate and graduate
degrees as well as vocational pro
grams. As one loan recipient
recently expressed to JELF, “I just
wanted to say thank you to JELF
for another generous loan for my
next school year. I will use the
support to its fullest capacity in
my path to my career and life.”
For additional information,
contact JELF Executive Director
Lara Dorfman at 770-396-3080 or
visit www.jelforg. Applications
for a JELF interest-free loan for
the spring 2013 semester will be
available September 2-30.
Applications for the 2013-2014
academic year will be available on
JELF’s website at www.jelforg in
March 2013.^
n
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2012 Democratic
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In celebration of friendship
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New Gallery of Modern Art
435 South Tryon Street #110
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