Refugees and immigrants in the U-S can have a hard time adjusting to a new place. But there's a nonprofit in the Tri-Cities that’s aiming to help. NWPB’s Murrow Fellow Renee Diaz joined host Connor Henricksen to discuss.
Connor Henricksen: One of your recent stories looked into a nonprofit in the Tri-Cities called B5. What can you tell us about that organization?
Reneé Dìaz: This organization serves people from across the world, and a range of ages. It is a learning center for refugees and immigrants, which provides free English and citizenship classes.
Everyone has a unique story at B5. Students come from different countries like Afghanistan, Nicaragua and Mexico, with a goal of making a better life for themselves in the U.S. What they all have in common is the curiosity to learn more about different cultures in the U.S., and students at B5 make goals for what they want to do next.
That includes students like Maya Herrera, who is from Oaxaca, Mexico. She's learning English at B5 and says she wants to be an interpreter at a hospital someday.
Henricksen: How did B5 get started?
Dìaz: B5 got its start with Theresa Roosendaal. She's the nonprofit's executive director. Over a decade ago, she mentored a family from the Karen people, a group indigenous to Myanmar, when they arrived in the Tri-Cities.
To provide more support for newcomers to the U.S., Roosendaal’s church rented a one-bedroom apartment so it could be a learning space for refugees. Roosendaal says she saw a need to support refugees, and B5 formally became a nonprofit in 2014. Roosendaal says that in Tri-Cities, people knew about the outreach to refugees by their old apartment number B5.
So they named the nonprofit after that unit number. B5 later moved to a larger location in 2023, where it remains today.
Henricksen: Renee, you visited some of the English classes at B5 while you were reporting on this story. What are those classes like?
Dìaz: B5 is located in this big, blue building in Kennewick. In the morning, when they have classes, their parking lot quickly fills up.
Inside, the classrooms are filled with people from all over the world. People are asking lots of questions about the material during class.
Volunteers teach students how to introduce themselves, how to order at a restaurant and how to ask questions. Students also learn how to read and write. You'll often hear people recite passages from their writing.
You'll see people from different backgrounds connect with each other during class.
Henricksen: Why do students want to take classes at B5?
Dìaz: People take these classes for many different reasons. Some students want to improve their language to find a better job.
For others, it's an opportunity to connect with their children who are learning English, too.
Henricksen: And what progress have students made in those English classes?
Dìaz: In their English classes, students are tested for their reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. B5 reported in 2025. Nearly 80% of students improved their skills in at least one area.
In February, B5 served nearly 130 adults through its English classes.
Henricksen: So this story is part of what's called solutions journalism. Can you talk about what that means and how NWPB is involved?
Dìaz: Yes, of course. Each month, a different reporter on NWPB's news team will report on a story through a solutions lens.
It's a lot of the same stories that we've reported before. But really examining the solutions during the reporting process.
We take time to understand how these solutions might be working and what the challenges are. Solutions journalism is really a way for us here at NWPB to not just look at problems, but how places in Washington, Oregon and Idaho are seeking solutions.
Note: This transcript has been edited for clarity.
