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Tulsa's American Dream Center
Breianna Dahl • Feb 18, 2021
Growing up and learning American history I can remember being taught about the American Dream. An idea that, at its core, should allow anyone from any background to succeed in America. This doesn’t mean that they just succeed the American Dream is based on the values of hard work and sacrifice. However, as the country has changed, so has the meaning of the American Dream. In today's society, immigrants have a hard time finding the resources they need to live here in America. Or, if they find those resources, they seem to come at extreme prices that are unfair compared to what Americans pay for similar services. This is where the American Dream Center in Tulsa Oklahoma comes into the picture.
Casey Jones started the American Dream Center back in 2017. The center was born when Casey started advocating for some of his international friends who were getting taken advantage of due to their status. He began helping them work through some of the hardships they were facing while trying to gain citizenship. The hardships ranged from not getting paid from their jobs, getting over changed for rent, and having problems with insurance. After a while, Casey realized that it was rewarding to help those who are fighting for their version of the American Dream, and the American Dream Center was born. The Center works on three tiers of the immigration process. The three tiers are immigration legal services, advocacy, and job placement.
Tier 1: Immigration Services
One of the problems Casey noticed about immigration was that many lawyers tend to overcharge international clients, and under deliver on their work. What this does is hurt the individual trying to live in the United States and make it just a little more difficult to work on gaining citizenship. Immigration Services include helping people with documentation like spousal petitions, proper immigration forms, and petitions. Anything that helps international people move to the United States properly.
Tier 2: Advocacy
After getting proper documentation to be in the United States, there are still a ton of hoops one must jump through to live the American Dream. Tasks like getting a driver’s license, going to the doctor, and getting insurance are annoying to American citizens but are even more daunting to immigrants. The American Dream Center advocates for immigrants and helps them through the confusing process of going to the DMV or working with insurance companies to make sure that they are not getting taken advantage of by these places.
Tier 3: Job Placement
The last tier is working with immigrants to find good honest employment. Unfortunately, there are employers out there that will take advantage of immigrants. The American Dream Center works with people on their resumes, applying for jobs, and how to interview. Their goal is to help immigrants find good, honest employment that will help them continue to reach their goal of citizenship.
The reality of immigration in America is that it is not easy. People who try to become American Citizens are faced with hardships from the moment they start the process. While talking with Casey I asked if there was anything he wished people knew about The American Dream Center, he said,
I know the term immigration is highly politicized, and particularly being here in Oklahoma people think we are helping undocumented people, and we do – but only to help them become documented. Immigration is not black and white like people think or how the news media portrays it. There is a wide spectrum of gray and so I just want people to know that we are helping them [immigrants] go about it the right, legal way. We are trying to work within the system. We are not trying to do anything illegal or giving jobs to people who do not have the right documentation.
In the future, the center would love to offer classes on citizenship, finances, and anything else that will help immigrants learn about living in America. The goal: give immigrants the help and information they need, allowing them to have a strong foot forward to create a wonderful life here in America.
The American Dream Center is a nonprofit organization located at 13111 E. 21st. Street Tulsa, OK 74134. The American Dream Center is approved by the Department of Justice. Roof Medics does not speak for the American Dream Center.
About the Author:
Breianna Dahl is a recent college graduate and the Marketing Manager for Roof Medics. She has been around the roofing industry her whole life as her father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were all roofers. Besides writing a blog Breianna handles all of Roof Medics social media accounts, and recently became a licensed drone operator. Breianna lives in Wisconsin with her husband.
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