Washington’s newcomers continue to receive support in education, community resources, employment opportunities, and healthcare through a simple but powerful service—digital access. The families, youths, and adults we serve continue to receive the laptops and internet access that are integral to life in the U.S. and allow them to access remote services.

In 2023, 72 laptops were distributed, 42 people benefited from digital literacy classes, and a further 150 people benefited from 16 total group digital literacy events. 

One of our female clients, Nadia, who recently resettled in King County from Afghanistan, received a laptop and digital literacy tutoring within the first few months of her arrival in 2023. Over the course of 10 weeks, her digital literacy tutor taught her how to navigate Zoom and other basic computer functions, which enabled her to take online English classes more frequently.

Now that she is learning English, she reports that she has been communicating more successfully with her child’s teachers and feels excited to be able to engage in her child’s educational experience. Nadia told us that she is looking forward to building on her new digital literacy skills professionally and will continue her learning with intermediate level trainings on email and Microsoft Word.

Another client, Henry, received a laptop to participate in IRC-led citizenship classes which are held on Zoom. He was able to successfully pass his test and is now a citizen of the US after 5 years living here. Congratulations, Henry!