Kay and Venna Juperatum made a plan to come to the U.S. so they could support their parents in the Philippines. They left family and Kay’s career as a television and radio personality behind. They would rely on Venna's medical training. They had to adapt to different family roles as well as small town and big city life in America. They are building a life and raising a family in America together, according to plan.

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This is a story about how music brought three immigrants together: a Romanian viola player, a South Korean bass player, and a Mexican drummer. They are part of the Grammy-nominated Dallas String Quartet, DSQ. They structure their concerts to connect with audiences throughout America. They have concerns as foreigners in America and about America in the world. Still, they value living here. Learn more about them and sample more of their music at https://www.dallasstringquartet.com/

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After the 1975 Khmer Rouge takeover of Cambodia, Thear Suzuki’s family started from zero. Thear was three years old. Her story of survival, persistence, and self-discovery led her to high level leadership in consulting firms and the community. Her story inspired President George W. Bush to paint her portrait for his book, Out of Many One.

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William Twayigize is a Hutu who miraculously survived horrific experiences as a refugee, a Tutsi prisoner, and a Nairobi street boy to complete an elite education and achieve a distinguished academic career. A transcript of his episode (lightly edited for clarity) is available at https://www.literacyachieves.org/category/immigrant-stories/

English skill is the key to success for immigrants and refugees.

• It gives them a voice to advocate for themselves. It gives them confidence that they will be understood.
• It is freedom and independence.
• It is the single best predictor of their engagement with the labor market and whether they fully use the credentials they earned in their home countries.

Please help Literacy Achieves provide no cost English instruction to immigrants through its’ North Texas Giving Day campaign: https://www.northtexasgivingday.org/organization/LiteracyAchieves .

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Jose Hernandez's ambition to become a doctor in Cuba was thwarted. Hear how he came to the US and planted seeds that revived his grandfather's business. Jose has grown it into a firm with international reach.

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Arang Cistulli came to the US from South Korea as a very young child with her family. She grew up in a small Ohio town where her father was a medical doctor. Her story is bookended by prejudice she experienced as a child and by recent hate directed at Asian-Americans. Don’t miss her lessons about dealing with hate and prejudice.
The story of Arang's parents, "Physician and Family," is in Immigrant Stories from the When I Got Here Podcast and Literacy Achieves.

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In 1979 Mylinh Luong left communist Vietnam with her father, mother, and four siblings in a crowded fishing boat. She was six years old. She vividly recalls the deprivation, squalor, and brutality of the journey and life in a Malaysian refugee camp. She knows what it is to be without resources, education, family, and friends. In the US, she experienced acts of kindness that helped her overcome the lack of these things. Now a successful businesswoman, she puts her knowledge into practice by helping and supporting other immigrants in a big way.

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Ana Arellanos was born in Mexico and came to Texas, undocumented, when she was five. She grew up in Gail, a small town in West Texas. Now, at age 34, she is a U.S. citizen and an immigration attorney. She knows the system from both sides. She wishes the whole country could be more like the tiny town that prepared her for U.S. success.

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