Four years ago, Goodwin Living launched a program to fund the citizenship application fee for immigrant team members and partner resident tutors with team members to help prepare them for the citizenship exam.

To date, more than 160 Goodwin Living team members and 20 family members received their citizenship through the program. In addition to accomplishing the original goal of assisting team members to achieve citizenship, this program also has had significant results in strengthening the organization’s talent pipeline.

Of those 160 team members, 46% are CNAs, 28% are dining staff, 13% are facilities/environmental services, 9% are RNs, and 4% serve the community in a variety of other ways. On average, citizenship grant recipients have one year past the average tenure of other employees, demonstrating a retention benefit of the program.

While fulfilling Goodwin Living’s mission, this initiative has enhanced their culture and DEI efforts, strengthened both retention and recruitment efforts, has increased resident engagement, and has set them apart by reputation to attract prospective residents, volunteers, donors, and press.

We invite you to join us for this virtual session, which will begin with a viewing of the brief national documentary which was featured in multi-film festivals across the US. Following the documentary, Zoe Marcuse, People Engagement Manager for Goodwin Living will share information about the program as well as how your community can implement a similar one.

You will learn:

• How the citizenship program operates and what makes it successful

• How this program enriches the resident-team member relationship across Goodwin Living

• About Goodwin Living’s recruitment and retention program

• How to leverage Goodwin Living’s Citizenship Program Playbook to begin a similar program in your community