Gallery: One Coastsider’s passage to citizenship

by Katie Sanborn

Susie Maya has made two big transitions within the last couple of months. Most Coastsiders have known her for the past 10 years as a cashier at Cunha, but now Susie’s the receptionist at the Coastside Opportunity Center weekdays and works weekend at Cunha. Her other big news? On Feb. 21, Susie was sworn in as an American citizen.

Becoming an American "was a dream for me. It was a dream I never forgot. It was like being born again. Opening a new book," Susie said.

She has spent much of her 19 years on the Coastside providing for her eight younger siblings and getting them through school. "I had to make a decision. It was them or me," she said of her younger siblings. So she chose them. "I wanted citizenship, but I never applied because I didn’t know what to do. And I work sometimes six days a week."

But one day in 2004, while working at Cunha’s, she chatted with customer David Pasternak, the president of the COC board and an immigration attorney. He and his assistant, Suzanne Prado, helped Susie navigate the system.

Susie’s reasons for becoming a U.S. citizen are simple. "I want to vote, to help my community. I’ve lived here 19 years. I think it’s time to give ... back to everybody" who helped her, she said. "Now I can do a lot of things. I can work a little bit more hard. I can go to university—that’s another thing I want to finish. A lot of things are different now."

Susie’s got a list of people she wants to recognize for the help and friendship they’ve provided. There’s Ed Watkins, whom she calls a second father; Naomi Patridge, who helped her navigate HMB High School for her siblings and attended the swearing-in; Bob Kay, who sold her her first car; Lyn Muth, a teacher who helped her brother; and Debra Godshall, who obtained signatures of support for her citizenship application. There’s also Julie McGowan, Palmira Oesterreich, Bonnie Harrell, Chris Miller and Greg Miller, Gigi Bravo, Guillermo Acevedo, Moto Yamamoto, and Juie Zhou. And, of course, Bev Cunha Ashcraft, who also witnessed Susie’s swearing-in.

"She’s not my boss, she’s like my — grandma," Susie said, smiling. "She worries about me all the time. She loves my brothers, my sisters." In fact, Bev has employed several of the Maya family at one time or another and has nothing but praise for how Susie raised her younger siblings. "She made good decisions with them," Bev said. "They’re all well-mannered, well-dressed, good kids."

Now the COC is proud to have Susie as a receptionist after having volunteered at the center for a year. She is also providing assistance to nearly every department at the COC—immigration services, social services, transportation services and tax services.

The day after the ceremony, Susie came in to work to find her desk decorated in red, white and blue balloons and photos of the event. "And now," she said, with a chuckle, "everyone calls me Miss America."

This article is from the newsletter of the Coastside Opportunity Center.