2022 Hardship and Resilience

Many immigrants/refugees leave their homes to escape tyranny, poverty, or oppression. They are often seeking a better life- one that they believe they can find in America. Many, however, will discover that immigrating to America comes with its own challenges. Many immigrants/refugees experience racism, xenophobia, and harassment. Others have difficulty assimilating into American culture and following its customs.

The tale of immigration to America is not, however, ridden only with woes and hardships. Each of our storytellers share, not only the hardships they experienced, but the resilience they demonstrated in the midst of it. In order to share these concepts, we have decided to dedicate the theme for the 2021-2022 cycle as Hardship and Resilience.

For this year’s collection of stories, we have heard from restaurant owners, mentors, teachers, etc. Each of these individuals share how they used love, family, and faith to surmount the hardships they experienced and change their community for the better. Please take a moment to toggle through the stories and learn from the people we were so fortunate to work with.