Leaders of the Shirlington Employment and Education Center used its 25th-birthday celebration to further commit to supporting the people that the organization helps.
SEEC, as it is known, provides “trust, hard work and hope” for the county’s immigrant population, board chair Chris Concepcion said at an Oct. 10 dinner held at Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church.
Founded in 2000 to address friction between day-laborers congregating in the S. Four Mile Run Drive area and those living in adjacent neighborhoods, SEEC has expanded its services over the decades. Today, it provides coursework in computer skills, entrepreneurship and green home cleaning, conducts driver-education classes, and brings hot meals to workers in the winter.
“Our mission has adapted” but “the need for dignity and opportunity never disappears,” said Emma Grayeb, the vice chair.
The organization’s founders included Walter Tejada, who later served a lengthy tenure on the County Board, and Andres Tobar.
Tobar said Tejada “gave [SEEC] the stimulus it needed to make it reality.”
“It was his initiative,” said Tobar, who for the past 21 years has served as the organization’s executive director.
Tobar recalled his initial response to being offered the job. “I’ll do it for a year,” he said.
Why has he stayed? “It’s been a labor of love,” he said. “The good thing about Arlington is that everyone wants to help everyone else.”
At the event, certificates of appreciation were awarded to a dozen community partners, including the Arlington Free Clinic.
“We are so proud to have worked with SEEC for all these 25 years, said Lesley Daigle, who heads the clinic. “May there be many more.”
Receiving SEEC’s 2025 Emily DiCicco Humanitarian Award was County Board member JD Spain, Sr.
Spain noted that the county’s immigrant community is facing some of the same challenges in 2025 as it did in 1999.
“Too many families are living in fear,” he said.
All in Arlington have a right to “feel safe, supported and empowered,” Spain said, calling SEEC “a phenomenal organization.”
Board chair Concepcion asked those attending to work hard at “ensuring the next 25 years are even brighter” for the organization.
