My name is Yan Heng. As a first-generation Cambodian immigrant, I am proud to say that I am the first in my family to graduate from 4-year college from The Evergreen State College. I have four sons. My family escaped from Khmer Rouge in 1974. I came to America in 1983. About ten years of my childhood, I suffered in the refugee camp. I settled in Tacoma and never lived outside of Washington state.
I started with state service in 2000 in the Community Services Office, as GAU and SSI facilitator. A year later I was promoted into a Social Services Specialist 3 position in Bremerton. I worked there for five years and received cross training to provide case management and assessments to clients in their own homes, residential settings, nursing facilities and hospitals. I transferred to the Tacoma HCS office in 2006 as a residential case manager and was in that position until a recent promotion to HQ. Before working for DSHS, I worked as a certified chemical dependency lead counselor for five years at Pierce County Alliance, and, prior to that, I worked as a Cambodian Mental Health case manager for seven years.
When not working, I am involved with the Cambodian Classical and Folkdance of the Pacific Northwest. I perform traditional and cultural dances throughout Washington in different ethnic and mainstream events. I enjoy traveling, hiking, camping, exercising, dancing, and gardening.