Vlad teaches weekly cooking and nutrition classes at Tacoma Community House, helping students learn healthy recipes with ingredients commonly available at American grocery stores.
He got there by a winding path. Vlad came to Tacoma with his mother and father after the war in Ukraine began in 2022, according to a profile published by Tacoma Community House. He enrolled in the organization's English Language Acquisition classes. After studying some English in Ukraine and completing a couple of quarters in TCH's upper-level class, he was ready to work. His first job was at McDonald's.
Then TCH's Employment Department recruited him as a volunteer to translate for the many Ukrainians at a job fair. That's where he met his current supervisor from the Washington State University Extension Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program, known as EFNEP.
Vlad now holds a full-time position with EFNEP and teaches the nutrition and cooking classes on-site at TCH. Participants eat the meal they've prepared at every session.
"TCH was important in my life as an immigrant," Vlad said in the profile, written by Amanda Mayer. "When I came to the US, I felt lost. But I found some friends here that I'm still in touch with. It's not just about English classes. It's about community."
TCH has served Tacoma's immigrant community since opening its doors on Jan. 10, 1910.
The WSU Extension EFNEP program operates in Pierce County. Alysia Morgan, a registered dietitian nutritionist, is listed as the program's Pierce County supervisor on the WSU Extension website.
Vlad's classes continue weekly at Tacoma Community House for enrolled TCH students.
