About

Our Mission at 1 Citizen at a Time –

1 Citizen at a Time mobilizes young people and community members to meet urgent local needs while strengthening civic participation. We provide essential support to new immigrants and asylum seekers, organize service initiatives and donation drives, and lead voter registration, education, and engagement efforts that empower individuals to participate fully in our democracy. Together, we create lasting change, 1 citizen at a time.

I am a high school student and the co-founder of 1 Citizen at a Time, an organization my older brother and I launched to support new immigrants, asylum seekers, and underserved families across New York City. Growing up in such a diverse city, I’ve seen both the incredible resilience of our communities and the real obstacles many families face when trying to access basic resources, understanding their rights, or feel a sense of belonging. Instead of standing on the sidelines, I decided to step in and help build solutions.

Through 1 Citizen at a Time, I lead hands-on, grassroots efforts that make an immediate impact such as organizing clothing drives for newly arrived families, raising funds to provide essential supplies, and partnering with local organizations to expand the support we can offer. At the same time, I’m passionate about empowering young people to use their voices. I organize voter registration drives for 16–18-year-olds in NYC high schools, recruit student volunteers across the city, and help grow a network of youth leaders committed to service and civic action.

Beyond our organization, I’ve worked with NYC Votes to canvass neighborhoods, promote voter registration, and educate residents about their voting rights, and I’ve supported both City Council and mayoral re-election campaigns. These experiences have shown me how community service, civic participation, and economic opportunity are all connected and how local action can create lasting change.

That connection has shaped my future goals. I plan to study political science and economics in college so I can better understand how policy and economic systems affect everyday people, and ultimately build a career focused on expanding opportunity and civic participation for underserved and underrepresented communities. For me, change starts at the ground level, one family supported, one student empowered, and 1 citizen at a time.

Hi, my name is Chase and I am the founder of 1 Citizen at a Time. I am currently in my first year of college, but I started this foundation when I was in high school and living in New York City. My maternal and paternal grandparents are immigrants to the United States and went through the process of becoming naturalized U.S. citizens. Over my life, I have witnessed all the hard work, diversity, and dedication immigrants contribute to this country. Working with individuals preparing for their U.S. citizenship interview, I have realized the profound impact it has made on their lives. I want to be able to spread this effect and help even more people take the steps toward becoming U.S. citizens.

Growing up and having immigrant grandparents on both sides of the family, I realized how much they would have appreciated and benefited from a person or an organization that helped them through the process of becoming U.S. citizens. Whether that meant helping them with conversational skills, preparing them for the citizenship test, or even just being someone they could ask questions to in such a stressful time.

This is the genesis of 1 Citizen at a Time which dates to 2022, further supported by the thousands of asylum-seekers and immigrants arriving to NYC every month. Each with a different dream and life story, these individuals came seeking an opportunity for a new life.

I am committed to doing everything I can to try and help you along your journey, please reach out and let’s see if we can find an opportunity to work together.