Can Tran
Seattle, WA.

This story is from a current enrollee in NAPCA’s Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) in Seattle, WA.

Can Tran grew up as a farmer in Ninh Thuan, a poor coastal province  located in the south of Vietnam. After 13 years of waiting for paperwork  to be processed, in 2015, he finally immigrated with his family to the  United States at the age of 57. Can had hopes for a better life for  himself and his family. He has hoped that immigrating to the  U.S. would benefit his children. At the same time, by leaving Vietnam,  he knew that he must face a lot of uncertainties in a new place to make a  living. With limited English proficiency, he faced a lot of daily  challenges, such as learning how to speak English,  maintaining his health, and finding a job to support his family. Can started to look for ESL classes and jobs to help him financially.

Through a friend, he found SCSEP at NAPCA in June 2017. Through the program, he was assigned to work at Legacy House, a community-based organization who is one of NAPCA’s partners. NAPCA has provided him a chance to be more confident, and helped him to take a big step  in his new life, and he is very appreciative of this. To him, it is great to have work that he can do to earn money, he gets to be active,  and he gets to meet and talk to many people. Although he misses his  former life as a farmer, Can feels great about living in the United  States. He knows that the community will support him. He knows that it  is possible to gain skills to support himself and his family. And most of all, Can knows that he is happier now and that NAPCA’s SCSEP has been  a significant factor in this.

As we continue to celebrate 40 years of service, we will share more stories from our seniors, please click here to read more stories. You can also support more seniors like Can and click here to donate now to support the continuing mission of NAPCA.