Naseer Sabr

I am Naseer Sabr from Iraq. My family and I had threats by ISIS because I was working with US governmental agencies in my country. I came to Washington with 2 sons and 1 daughter with a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV). When I got here, I took care of my kids, sent them to school, then I attended the ESOL class in Highline College. That’s where I got the Puget Sound Welcome Back Center support. The PSWBC referred me to Jewish Family Services to help me find a job. They gave me a lot of advice how to build a resume, write a cover letter. The WBC helped a lot with classes and continuing education (Auto CAD class, Rivet classes, and more) and help with re-evaluation of my academic degree. In my journey I have been supported by many agencies such as Jewish Family Services (JFS) helped me to find a job in my profession to collect working hours and be eligible for an engineering license. At the beginning I was working as a homecare aide, then I did work as an electrical installer with JFS’s help, and now I opened my own business as general construction company.

IRC helped me bring my wife and other daughter to the U.S. 4 months after I came. All other family members are still in Iraq (mom, brothers, and sisters). My dad passed away while waiting for the visa.

My advice to other refugees will be to be actively engaged in the community and find help from all resources like the Welcome Back Center.  Also, very important – to trust yourself to make others trust you.

To everyone who helped me to make my family safe, just to let them know I really appreciate them although I can’t thank them properly. But I found a way to pay them back by setting goals for my company. One of these goals is helping the newcomers that have skills and didn’t find a job in their professions because they don’t have experience in the USA. I will help by hiring them, training them about the codes, and build their experience inside the USA until they feel comfortable to find their dream job. I can be a great step along their pathway to re-entering their former career.

Thank you Highline College and the Welcome Back Center (Angie, Linda, Fernando, Jesse, and all)
Thank you Jewish Family Services (Rebecca, and all)
Thank you IRS organization (Azeez, and all)
Thank you Upwardly Global organization.

Thank you all!