When others get to know me, I like to tell them that I was raised in two distinctly different areas, simultaneously: the Inland Empire and Orange County. I may not have had two physical homes in each of these places, but both areas gave me the sensation that a home does–the nostalgic feeling of upbringing and nourishment, a place where you turn to for comfort. My childhood house was in Eastvale, California, a small but up-and-coming suburban town right by the 15 freeway. I would go to neighboring cities like Chino Hills often, as my uncle used to own a mechanic shop in Chino Hills. During my childhood, my family and I often spent a lot of time in OC, mainly because of the presence of the Asian-American community, and specifically Vietnamese diaspora in Little Saigon. Because of the experiences that I had in both the IE and OC, I feel very deeply connected to the communities there. Through my internship at Congresswoman Young Kim's office, I am able to channel my connection to these communities into a commitment to serving the people of those communities.
Congresswoman Kim represents the 39th district in California, which includes parts of Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino counties, in the U.S. House of Representatives. Although she does not represent the exact cities that I reside in, she does represent the communities that I have encountered and existed in and advocates for issues that impact these communities, and the surrounding ones. In my experience at the Congresswoman's office, a lot of the work revolves around the constituents, specifically in casework. The Representative's caseworker acts as a liaison between constituents and a federal agency, such as USCIS, Passport Services, and the IRS, and where I fit into the picture as an intern is connecting constituents who call our office with questions about casework. Most of the time constituents reach out unaware of how we can help, to which our office directs them to Congresswoman Kim's official website to submit their casework request. Many of my interactions with constituents have been about expediting passport requests, but there were a few calls from immigrant constituents in regards to USCIS, which is United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, and some of these calls even come from constituents who only slightly speak English.
The office staff consists of two Korean speakers, one Mandarin speaker, as well as a Spanish speaker, who have insisted that I reach out to them no matter what when I receive phone calls from languages that they are fluent in. In a district that holds an Asian demographic majority, I find having these resources very powerful, especially in a public service office. As basic as it seems to ask for a translator, I think back to the times where my mother had a hard time communicating with federal agencies as a fluent Vietnamese speaker, and the relief she experienced when met with someone who speaks her native tongue; language accessibility should be a not be a privilege but instead a definitive option. Witnessing staff in the office communicate with constituents in another language serves as a reminder to me that public service must always include the ability to serve all, under any circumstances.
Aside from communicating with and directing constituents to achieving their needs, I was able to attend a business walk-through with Congresswoman Kim while she was in town. We toured LeFiell Manufacturing Company, which develops precision tubular products in support of the commercial airplane, defense and aerospace industries. The company works with big names such as NASA, Boeing, and Mitsubishi whilst being a business that produces right down the street at Santa Fe Springs, and during the tour, I saw that the Congresswoman stayed deeply present in listening and learning about what the company stood for. Congresswoman Kim values small businesses deeply, as she is one herself, and witnessing her in-field, connecting and communicating with a small business, highlighted to me the impact in being present in the community you serve. Like Nancy Yap mentioned in her Community Feeding Community presentation, the more present you are with the people you serve, the more credible you are, and I believe Congresswoman Kim to be authentic in her advocacy for small businesses. Experiencing this hands-on commitment to the community through Congresswoman Kim's work in her office and in the cities she serves, has allowed me to visualize what it takes to be a part of a public service team.