Krystal with American flag
Celebrating Citizenship!
Krystal was born in Jamaica and has lived in this country since 2001. Yet, she always dreamed of becoming a U.S. citizen. Krystal struggles with symptoms related to her mental health diagnosis. In 2017, she began receiving services from our Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) team.
In that same year, Krystal began working on the lengthy citizenship application. She continually ran into roadblocks and was repeatedly denied the opportunity to move forward. In addition to helping with her mental health treatment, the ACT team also rallied around Krystal and helped her with the application. The roadblocks continued and it was a learning process for everyone. At one point, everyone was feeling positive but then quickly disappointed when Krystal was denied again because she interrupted her length of consecutive stay in the U.S by traveling back to Jamaica for a short time. This required her to start the application all over again. In total, Krystal took the U.S. citizenship test three times.
However, her dedication, hard work and persistence prevailed. On September 20, 2023 (during this year’s Constitution Week), Krystal was granted full U.S. citizenship! This national commemorative week celebrates the connection between the Constitution and citizenship and reflects on what it means to be a citizen of the United States.
It was also a time of rejoicing and special celebrations among Krystal and the Durham Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) team! There was so much joy and happiness when she was finally able to share her Certificate of Naturalization with the ACT team. To this day, we are still smiling when we think about it. We are so proud of Krystal and her incredible accomplishments.
ABOUT EASTERSEALS UCP
Easterseals UCP and PORT Health are trustworthy, compassionate partners providing exceptional disability, behavioral health and addiction treatment services to help our neighbors live their best lives. Purpose, dedication and empathy drive our in-person and telehealth service delivery. Our diverse and inclusive 2,600 member team provides more than 10.2 million hours of meaningful support to 40,200 kids, adults and families in 11,000 home, facility and community locations across North Carolina and Virginia. Learn more at eastersealsucp.com.
