Life and Discovery Inc., Asian American Center of Frederick

Location

Frederick, MD

USCIS grant recipient

FY2022

About

The Asian American Center of Frederick, Maryland (AACF), has assisted clients with completing citizenship application forms and offered classes to prepare applicants for the citizenship test since 2014. AACF has established itself as a trusted voice in the immigrant community by providing a variety of services and programs that draw in individuals according to their needs. With USCIS FY 2022 funding, AACF seeks to activate resources typically only available in a major metropolitan area and bring them to smaller cities and rural communities where distance, local anti-immigrant sentiment, frequent migrant/ contractual work, lack of services, and other challenges inhibit engagement of hard-to-reach populations. The project includes five innovations: (1) Service integration: Engage hard-to-reach populations through integration of citizenship and ESL services with healthcare and cultural events with a regional draw; (2) Mobile services: Dispatch a mobile unit to increase the geographic reach of services to underserved areas in small and rural communities; (3) Multiplier Outreach Effects/Partnership: Partner with Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area (LSSNCA) to bring key elements of citizenship and naturalization services that are difficult to access in non-metropolitan areas; (4) Multi-sectoral partnerships: Leverage local relationships with schools, hospitals, social services, the department of aging, refugee services, mental health association, the police department, and others to facilitate integration into the community; and (5) Digital resources: - Provide students with audiobooks, tablets, headphones, e-books, online lessons, and virtual connections to caseworkers, instructors, tutors, and mentors, so they can continue their learning when they do not have access to in-person learning.