Nationalities Service Center of Philadelphia

Here at Nationalities Service Center (NSC), we believe that immigrants and refugees are a critical part of the fabric of life in the United States, and it is our vision that all immigrants and refugees achieve a life of dignity, safety, stability, sustainable opportunities and meaningful connections to their communities. To this end, NSC provides comprehensive services to immigrants and refugees, including legal protections, community integration, access to health and wellness services, and opportunities to achieve English language proficiency. Our dedicated staff are committed to ensuring that each of our clients receives high-quality holistic care and work together to refer clients to internal and external services based on the individual’s needs.

For over twenty years, Radwan, a Syrian refugee, worked as an ESOL teacher in elementary schools in his native country. He always had the dream of serving his community and contributing to the development of the Syrian educational system – but his dreams soon evaporated in the wake of the war. As Radwan describes, it was heart-wrenching to be ripped away from his homeland. “When we fled, we left everything behind, among them my job in which I invested my life,” he says.

When Radwan arrived to the US, he feared that the investment he had made in an education career would be blown away once he began searching for his first job here in the US. Still, he approached the employment team at NSC with an open mind and was determined that his long-term goal would be to remain within the field of education.

Seeking to understand American work culture, Radwan attended NSC's job-readiness club sessions to cultivate his skills for his first job here. Then, the moment came for a job opportunity with the School District of Philadelphia. Armed with confidence, his sophisticated talents impressed the interviewers enough to hire him on the spot as a Bilingual Counseling Assistant for the School District of Philadelphia. His main role is to help non-English speaking students and parents navigate all school-related issues.

It has been a transformation in more ways than one. He says, “After I started working, I felt more like a citizen than a marginalized refugee. Even the atmosphere within my family changed from dim to bright.”

Every day, Nationalities Service Center helps immigrants and refugees, like Radwan, begin new lives here in the Philadelphia region, and with your help, we can continue this critical work.