February 9, 2024 • 31 mins
Media portrayals of immigrants can perpetuate stereotypes and misinformation, influencing Americans' perceptions and attitudes toward immigrants. Negative stereotypes may contribute to fear, prejudice, and discrimination, making it difficult to foster empathy and understanding. That’s why bringing in a quarterly segment produced by the Welcoming Center and hosted by its CEO Anuj Gupta. The Center supports immigrants in achieving economic independence, integration and wellbeing. The feature is designed to build empathy and understanding across cultural divides. Anuj’s first guests are Yu Shan Chou who along with Karen Cervera started “Let’s Talk Philly” which offers conversation circles in person and virtually for immigrants to practice English with one another and build social connections.
https://www.letstalkphilly.org
https://welcomingcenter.org
Also, since Valentine’s day is coming up – it’s time to re-run my very personal interview with my husband, Gilberto Gonzalez conducted eight years ago. 😊 .
https://www.letstalkphilly.org
https://welcomingcenter.org
Also, since Valentine’s day is coming up – it’s time to re-run my very personal interview with my husband, Gilberto Gonzalez conducted eight years ago. 😊 .
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Good morning. You're listening to Insight, a show about empowering our community.
I'm Lorraine Ballard Morrow Valentine's Days aroundthe Corner, so I break to you
once again an interview I did eightyears ago with a man who became my
husband in twenty twenty. First isa ball connecting each other through Latin's we
have in common and all show therichness of our diffncers. That was you
(00:24):
Shan Chu, who, along withKaren Servera, started Let's Talk Philly,
which offers conversation circles in person andvirtually for immigrants to practice English with one
another and build social connections. Theyare featured in a new segment from the
Welcoming Center which will air quarterly,and we'll look at things we have in
common with America's newcomers and the richnessof our differences. This is Welcoming Works
(00:49):
with me A Nuskupta, President andCEO of the Welcoming Center, join us
as we spotlight the phenomenal economic andsocial impact immigrants are making right here in
philadelph In each segment, we willdive into the stories of community, culture,
transformation, and resilience. These storiesare a celebration of immigrants who are
(01:10):
shaping not only bright futures for themselvesand their families, but a brighter future
for their communities and for Philadelphia.Our first guests Karen Severa and Yushan Chu,
the founders of the award winning Let'sTalk Philly Conversation Circles. Karen,
you, Shawn, Welcome, Hi, Hi, thank you for having this.
(01:33):
You both find your way to Philadelphiaand you come to the Welcoming Center,
you become participants in our Immigrant LeadershipInstitute, and from that you catalyze
to start Let's Talk Philly. We'regoing to come back to what the link
is between maybe what you experienced andthe program, but let's start by just
(01:55):
describing what is Let's Talk Philly ConversationCircles. Yes, so Let's Talk Philly
is an autonomous and volunteer led organization. I mean, it was born at
the Welcoming Center, but it hasgrown to be its own entity and it's
driven by immigrants and refugees who areworking together to build community, to build
(02:20):
wellness, and to address those integrationbarriers like professional, social personal barriers through
building language and leadership skills. Andwe use a peer to peer learning model
I mean, we're learning from eachother. And also it's very participatory.
So what we do is that webuild on the knowledge and skills people are
(02:45):
already bringing to the table to createnew knowledge, to create new skills,
and we foster a space where everybodyfeels safe, everybody's voice is heard,
and they feel empowered. The wayit works is that we have different groups
who meet from eight to ten participantsmeeting two times per week, and they
(03:07):
are meeting to our situations. Soit's kind of like an intense English practice.
They have two facilitators who are moderatingand leading the conversations, and they
really talk about everything that is importantto them. It can be culture,
it can be the new life.Here they share resources, they share their
skills, they share their background,and also we have some conversation circles that
(03:29):
are more target specific things like careerbuilding. So these are conversations that are
just specifically about career building and wedo this for a period of ten weeks
and we have some events in between. And you, Chah, maybe you
can tell us how did the twoof you come together to form this project.
(03:52):
So, as Kara mentioned, likewe join on Immigrant Leadership Institute,
a program at the Wellcommings Center.And then the program is really for immigrants
to discover and to explore and maybethe barriers or the challenges we have when
we move to Philadelphia and we haveto form a group. So we are
(04:16):
grouped like dandomly. So in thebeginning we were group of five, but
to left before pandemic and another oneleft during pandemic. So Karen and I,
you know, just keep doing it. I think the reason is because
we want to We are looking forthe census of purpose and the belonging and
(04:43):
independence. So from the program wehave to learn the barriers and from our
peers and from the community. Andthen we focus on language barrier, more
specifically the speaking parts, because wefound it is the most challenging part immigrants
have. Even we have a goodunderstanding in reading, writing, and listening,
(05:10):
but when it comes to speaking,it is always very challenging. So
we wanted to create the initiative wherewe can support ourselves and others, where
people feel like Karen mentioned sef andare understood while they are in this learning
process. Many immigrants, when youhear their stories, not only is their
(05:33):
journey to the United States a challenge, but the process of settling in and
acclimating integrating into their new community canbe a challenge as well, and the
challenge is isolation loneliness. It's somethingthat the Surgeon General the United States has
(05:55):
proclaimed to be an epidemic amongst Americans. In your own respective journe news when
you arrived here and Yu Shan,you came from Taiwan, Karen from Mexico,
did you experience loneliness or isolation andwhat was that challenge? Like I
first arrived in the US in twentysixteen, directly to Houston, Texas.
(06:17):
I moved here with my husband,he was studying in Houston at that moment.
And honestly, when I first movedto the US, I was very
excited. You know. I alwayswanted to see more of the world,
experience other cultures, experience other waysof living. So actually I came here
very excited. And you know,the first months or weeks they are like
(06:40):
what they call that honeymoon stage whereeverything's nice, everything is peak. You
are getting to know the new placeand new people. But after a little
while you passed that stage and youstart thinking about, Okay, so now
what I'm going to be doing withmy life here, and that's when reality
hits you, and when all thosebarriers kind of hitting the face as well,
(07:03):
like the English language for example.I learned English back home, but
coming here is very different. Youknow, you have different speeds, you
have different accents. So once youstart really realizing also your status, because
I came as a dependent, sothat meant I couldn't work or study full
(07:24):
time. So all those things startedto hit you and you start to realize
what's going on. So definitely Istart from that moment on, and not
having my family and friends close by, I really started to feel that loneliness
and that kind of isolation, andespecially in Houston, where everything is so
(07:46):
spread out that you would need acar to get around and I didn't know
how to drive, so I spentmost of my time at home. That
was very, very tough times forme. And you, Shan, did
you experience a similar journey. Yeah. So I am much older than most
people I know, and I dofeel the feeling of isolation, but that
(08:11):
was because I was very close tomy family and they were in Taiwan at
that time, and also during pandemic, it wasn't help. I was worried
about myself and my family because theywere so close to the place where the
pandemic outbreak started. So the challengesI have it's not only in terms of
(08:35):
the language barriers, it's also Icouldn't bring my family with me. Yeah,
would you say that, let's talk. Philly is in the business of
building confidence amongst participants. I willsay, like last PHELI was the response
to learn things and also to theimpact of cogniting pandemics because at the light
(09:01):
of time, like immigrants were oneof the most impact groups who experience a
highlighted sense of isolation due to thelockdown. They have to stay at home,
and we allow any opportunity to practiceand learn English and also to meet
(09:22):
with each other. And the otherhand is also they lose the opportunity to
build social capital and also to progressin their careers and also to find out
their learning paths. So I thinkCaroen mentioned we are more like a participatory
(09:43):
center. The program really starts inearnest at the beginning of the pandemic.
Is that correct? Yeah, Andwe at that time in early twenty twenty,
we are all making this remarkable adjustmentto virtual community. Some of us,
I would say, were unsure ofhow well that would go. Were
(10:05):
you surprised by how successful the programbecame, even in a fully virtual environment.
Yeah, and we usually said thatalso, it was kind of like
a blessing in these guys, becauseso the first idea was to do this
in person. It was meant tobe a few workshops where we would meet
(10:26):
and try this idea out. Butthen we all moved to online. We
have to adapt, and we feellike one of the things that made less
stockpili As success was being online becausewe could reach even more people that we
were imagining that we would. Immigrantsjoined from all around, not just Philly,
(10:48):
not just the state, but allaround the country. We have participants
joining from different states, and itgives them an opportunity to keep practicing and
build community even if they are faraway. Of immigrants, they cannot access
city programming because they cannot drive,or they're just too far or even you
know, we have a lot ofmoms that usually cannot I mean, they
(11:11):
have to take care of their families, so they don't have a lot of
time or space to join programs,and they want to keep developing themselves.
So it was an opportunity to reacheven more people who usually do not access
programs. And if somebody wants tobecome a participant in let's talk feeling now,
is it possible and is it stillfully virtual or do you also do
(11:33):
it in person? Yes, soour main conversation program session still remain online
because we still want to engage,especially like we have participants went back to
their country, but they wanted tostay connected. And also this is the
way we can have more best tohear like voices from different persis. But
(11:58):
we do try to organize like somein person events when it comes to like
a wellness day, you know duringpandemic, like a lot of us experience
like a mental wellness. So likeone of our elements in conversation circle is
we do like unli or in personwillness a day to adjust some issues or
(12:20):
some emotional willness we had. Sothe two of you have done a remarkable
job of building a new program fromscratch during an extraordinary difficult time, and
you designed something that not only isbuilding social capital, but responded to something
that both of you experienced in yourjourneys here, which was isolation and loneliness.
(12:46):
What one lesson would you want leadersin Philadelphia active community members, anybody
to know about your experience in creatingLet's talk Philly. I think for us
it is very important to honor mutualcollaborative leadership efforts and give spat to others
(13:11):
to express their voices reilar Lan speakfor them, and also it's very important
to pass mic to laws who candeliver the message on their own. Like
some of the various with Faster inLast Viti, respect, empathy, resilient,
(13:31):
cultural appreciation and hope. For us, it's about connecting each other through
the things we have in common andal show the richness of our differences.
Yeah, and it's just like reallyrecognizing that everyone has something to ring to
the table. Everyone has amazing storiesthat we need to make the space for
(13:56):
them to tell them and work withthem to create a better place and a
better city for everyone. Folks wouldlike to find out more and potentially join.
Where would they go? We haveour social media like on Facebook and
Instagram. Also we have our ownwebsite and when we have the new cycle
begin, we will share the fightersaround like participant and like partners. Actually,
(14:24):
we are about to start our newscycle of a night cod Hot in
March and now we are on thepreparing process for the information station for participant
and facilitators. Anyone can google lastSoukiviti and then they can find us very
easy. And what is the Instagramhandle and Facebook? The Instagram is lesstock
(14:46):
Philly CC and Facebook is less stockFilly as well, Jaron y Sean,
I think both of you are doingamazing work in creating a better city.
Thank you for joining us this morning. Thank you, thank you. You're
listening to Insight. This November sixteenth, Gilberto Gonzalez and I will be celebrating
(15:09):
fifteen years together, three of themmarried, so in time for Valentine's Day.
I'm re ary an interview we didtogether eight years into our relationship about
how we met, and so fora change, I thought I'd get really
up close and personal and bring mytrue love into the studio. Gilberto Gonzalez,
Hello, Hi baby, how areyou doing? How you doing?
(15:31):
I'm good of good. So whatwe're going to do is we're going to
talk about how we met and alittle bit of our story. So I
guess we'll start with how did wemeet? How did we meet? Well?
I was working on a project withMelissa Shapiro. She works for nonprofit
(15:52):
our organizations, and we were communicatingthrough Facebook back when Facebook kind of the
early beginnings of Facebook. Two.Yeah, so back then, when you
were on Facebook and communicating, littlepictures would pop up. So then your
picture popped up, and then youknow, I was like, wow,
(16:14):
mamyt that. I look at it. I was like, whoa, she's
hot. So so I friended youand you accepted. Yeah, because I
thought that you were someone I workedwith that I hadn't met yet. Because
back then, they also indicated whatnetwork you belonged to, and it said
that you belonged to CCP, andat the time, our company was called
(16:37):
Clear Channel Philadelphia CCP. But itturned out you were with with Community College
of Philadelphia, which is where youwork. Uh huh, yep, it's
a graphic designer. Yes, Andso you you started to communicate with me,
you know, you started to sendme messages. Yeah. Yeah,
I was like your baby, No, No, you did. No.
I was more like, uh,I don't know, I don't I really
(17:00):
I don't remember the you know,what the communication was, but I do
remember asking you out to let's geta cup of coffee or drink. And
I think it took a couple oftimes, but then you agreed to do
it. Well, we started totalk before we met, We emailed each
other, we facebooked each other first, and then you know, we got
Eventually I kind of figured out thatyou didn't work for a clear channel.
(17:22):
I thought you were really young.I mean I thought you were like in
your twenties or something. Really Yeah, for some reason, I had a
fake picture up. No no,no, But and then and then after
we talked for a little while,then I did agree to meet with you,
and I picked a public place andcame under armed guard. Yeah.
Now all my friends knew where Iwas going, and they were actually up
(17:44):
the street. And then and thenI walked. So what did you What
did you think when I walked inthe door. Well, actually I was
standing near the entrance of the restaurantand I saw you walking up the street
and I said, oh my god, I think that's her. And I
was really nervous, and I waslike, oh my god, she's too
(18:04):
beautiful. Soon she gets to looksand look at me, She's just gonna
walk down. No, So yeah, I didn't. I was expecting the
worst, you know. So Ithink you were like about a half a
block away across the street and Isaw you walking towards the place, and
I said, wow, that's Ithink that's her. And then when I
saw you, I thought, oh, he's really cute. I thought you're
(18:27):
very handsome. Thank you. Yes, And so we had we had dinner.
It was a standard tap, standardtap Northern Liberties. And then we
had I thought, a very nicedinner. You know. You seemed a
little shy. Yeah, I wasreally nervous. Yeah, and then you
walked me to my car. Yeah. And then I did something that I
(18:49):
don't normally do on a first date. I know, you kissed me and
I was, well, I wentin to kiss you and you kissed me
back, and I felt like Iwas twenty because I was I was like,
wow, my god, this isthis is so great. I you
know, again, I was stillnervous, you know, but yeah,
that first kiss was awesome. Sowhen did you know that I was the
(19:11):
one? I think the first interactionyou had with with my sons, like
my my children love you, andI think from the very first moment that
they connected with you. They youknow, I mean, they just love
you. I mean, and Iyou know, I don't let too many
(19:34):
people near my children. So whenyou came to Lucas's birthday, you know,
it was like this real sweet connectionand I was like, wow,
this is this is so wonderful.You know that that my children are connecting
with you, and I think thatjust completes everything, makes everything real,
real, beautiful. Well it's funnybecause I felt the same way. I
(19:56):
went to your son's birthday party andand you were so great with all the
kids there. There were a lotof kids or your family was there number
one For me, growing up askind of an only child, I you
know, I didn't really have thatfamily experience. So you had this really
(20:17):
great family circle. Everyone was verywarm and very welcoming. And then I
just observed how you were with thekids. You were so good with them.
They just connected with you. Youwere so sweet, and I just
thought, wow, this guy's reallyspecial, really cool. Really Yeah,
So that kind of cemented it.So name three things that we have in
(20:38):
common? Do you think? Ithink we do a lot of work in
the community, just I think connectingpeople and helping people in just In and
around the city. I mean,that's that's one thing that we have in
common. I think that we werevery loving, not just with each other,
(21:00):
but with family and friends. We'revery dedicated to them. And we
both like to dance, yes,yeah, yes, yeah, Well let's
see and things. The three thingsthat I think we have in common well,
definitely our love of community and ourcommitment to community. I think we
like to help people a lot,and we try and we love to dance.
(21:23):
This is true. So those arethree things. And I think we
try to grow, you know,we don't. We're not satisfied with being
just who we are. We alwayswant to be a better person, I
think, and we always strive forthat. Yeah. Well, I think
that's something we I admire about youis that you, you know, I
(21:45):
admire that about you that you alwaysstrive for more and always, you know,
go, you know, you gobeyond what most people would do.
And I think that's so beautiful.I mean, that's that's why I love
you. Yeah, that's why Ilove you too. So what are the
best times of the most difficult times? What are the best times? I
(22:06):
think, to be honest, everyday that we're together, it's like a
new day for me, you know, like and then sometimes when I don't
see you for a few days,I like, I like miss you.
So when I see you, it'slike, it's just so wonderful. So
that's the best when when I whenI'm with you, every time that I'm
with you, it's just beautiful andand and special. The most difficult would
(22:30):
be this thing that we called it. It. Yes, I nicknamed her
Cookie. So when Cookie comes out, I get a little scared, to
be honest, because it's like,I don't know, I you know,
it's it's a side of you thatrarely comes out. But when it comes
(22:51):
out, it's like, oh mygod, no, but it is because
it's not you, you know.I mean, it's that's the side of
you that that are hardly ever see. Well, when I see it,
it's like it's just I feel likeit's like so like it's not you,
Like it's Cookie. Yeah, thatdarn Cookie. Let's see the best times.
(23:11):
Well, I would agree with you. I we just have so much
fun together. I think we justhave a lot in common. We enjoy
a lot of the same things.We even like comic books, we like
you know, we like science fiction. I never really went out with anybody
who liked as many things in commonwith me that that you have in common.
So so that's fun. So whenwe can, you know, go
(23:33):
to fun movies and we can danceand all those things. So but yes,
I agree with you. I thinkI just really like being with you
because you're just very easy to bewith and you're so patient, especially when
Cookie shows up, which she does, which is rare, which is rare.
But I think you know, andI think that's probably the most difficult
(23:56):
times. So sometimes I do geta little broody at times, but it's
rare, you know, Thank you. I can handle Cookie. It can
handle Cookie. You can put Cookiein her place. No, no,
I just handle it. Okay.What advice do you have for young couples.
I think for young couples, Ithink really being honest and transparent.
(24:19):
I mean I think that like betweenus. I mean I think you grab
my cell phone, you can flipthrough it, you can do whatever you
want. I'm not like, don'ttouch my cell phone. You know that
kind of stuff. So I thinktransparency and that, you know, like
our lives. When you're a partof somebody, then it's everything, you
(24:41):
know what I mean. So it'slike my friends they have to like you,
and my family has to like you. If they don't like you,
then I'm not going to be sharingwith them because you're the one I love,
and you come first, you know, you and my children. So
I think for young couples they transparencyand sharing. And the other important thing
is that when you love somebody,you have to work at it right.
(25:04):
You can't just sit back and say, Okay, that's it. It's like
you have to appreciate every moment you'retogether, like I appreciate every moment that
we're together. Every moment we're togetheris special. I don't take take you
for granted at all, So don'ttake anyone for granted, especially the person
(25:25):
that you love. I agree.I think that trust is really important.
And if you don't have that,you don't have a real true relationship.
You know, if you are alwayswondering or you don't you know, you
think that someone is hiding something,then that's not a true love relationship.
You have to have total trust,and we have that, which I'm very
(25:45):
grateful for exactly, And I thinkyou're right. I think you know sometimes
things, you know, everything doesn'talways go smoothly. I mean, everything
isn't always perfect. When you firstgo out, you know, everything is
just everything is great, you know, it's everything. But then it comes
a time when there's a disagreement orthere's some breakdown, and it's your ability
(26:10):
to work through that that builds astronger relationship, builds greater intimacy, and
makes the relationship. It's the gluethat makes it last. I think,
you know, there's always going tobe stuff that happens, but if you
can't work it out, or let'sput it this way, the working out
(26:30):
of whatever those conflicts or issues areis a thing that makes your relationship stronger
for surely there. And Okay,tell me three things you like about me,
and I'll tell you three things Ilike about you. Three things that
I like about you. You're beautifulevery moment, like even now when I
(26:53):
look at you, you're just beautiful. That's one of my favorite things about
it. You're just so every dayis like a fresh breath of beauty every
day. The other thing that Ilike about you is again that you're a
very giving person, to the pointsometimes where it's kind of kind of hurts
(27:18):
sometimes, you know, but Ithink that you know, you learn and
you grow, but I think thatyou're you don't let the downfalls of being
a giving person stop you from givingto the people that need it, And
I think I love that about youbecause it just doesn't. You don't let
that side bring you down, butyou just keep forward and you keep giving,
(27:42):
and I just love that. Thenthe other thing I like and love
is that again, dancing. Ilove to dance. You love to dance,
and we just anywhere we go,we just dance, and I love
it. Well, you are,I think, very hot and handsome,
(28:02):
so yes, so I enjoy.I just feel like we fit as a
couple, you know. I justlike how we are together. There's something
about the way that you are.When I look into your eyes, there
is such a an openness and trustthere. You are so open, and
(28:26):
it always impresses me, especially becauseI know that you had difficulties in your
life. You didn't have an easychildhood, you didn't have an easy adolescent.
You were in an environment where manyof the people that you grew up
with are dead or addicted or injail. And you didn't choose to go
(28:51):
that way, but you were inthat environment. And so it just always
amazes me when I look at youat how open and loving and almost childlike
in your openness that you have beenable to remain despite having gone through all
(29:12):
the things that you've gone through,I mean, really pretty rough stuff.
So that, to me is themost phenomenal thing about you, is that
you were able to get through everythingthat you've been through and still come out
on the other side being as lovingand as generous and as kind and as
giving as you are. And thatis pretty remarkable. And I love your
(29:38):
creativity. I love the fact thatyou're an artist and a filmmaker, and
you know that you have such agreat creative element to who you are.
I think I enjoy that and it'svery I love that about you. I
love that you paint and make moviesand and are able to share your gift
(30:02):
with other people. I love you. I love you too. Thank you,
thank you. I love you,baby, I love you too.
You can listen to all of today'sinterviews by going to our station website and
typing in keyword Community. You canalso listen on the iHeartRadio app keyword Lorraine
(30:25):
with one R. Follow me onTwitter and Instagram at Lorraine Ballard. I'm
Lorraine Ballard, Moral and I standfor service to our community and media that
empowers. What will you stand for? You've been listening to insight and thank you
Good morning. You're listening to Insight, a show about empowering our community.
I'm Lorraine Ballard Morrow Valentine's Days aroundthe Corner, so I break to you
once again an interview I did eightyears ago with a man who became my
husband in twenty twenty. First isa ball connecting each other through Latin's we
have in common and all show therichness of our diffncers. That was you
(00:24):
Shan Chu, who, along withKaren Servera, started Let's Talk Philly,
which offers conversation circles in person andvirtually for immigrants to practice English with one
another and build social connections. Theyare featured in a new segment from the
Welcoming Center which will air quarterly,and we'll look at things we have in
common with America's newcomers and the richnessof our differences. This is Welcoming Works
(00:49):
with me A Nuskupta, President andCEO of the Welcoming Center, join us
as we spotlight the phenomenal economic andsocial impact immigrants are making right here in
philadelph In each segment, we willdive into the stories of community, culture,
transformation, and resilience. These storiesare a celebration of immigrants who are
(01:10):
shaping not only bright futures for themselvesand their families, but a brighter future
for their communities and for Philadelphia.Our first guests Karen Severa and Yushan Chu,
the founders of the award winning Let'sTalk Philly Conversation Circles. Karen,
you, Shawn, Welcome, Hi, Hi, thank you for having this.
(01:33):
You both find your way to Philadelphiaand you come to the Welcoming Center,
you become participants in our Immigrant LeadershipInstitute, and from that you catalyze
to start Let's Talk Philly. We'regoing to come back to what the link
is between maybe what you experienced andthe program, but let's start by just
(01:55):
describing what is Let's Talk Philly ConversationCircles. Yes, so Let's Talk Philly
is an autonomous and volunteer led organization. I mean, it was born at
the Welcoming Center, but it hasgrown to be its own entity and it's
driven by immigrants and refugees who areworking together to build community, to build
(02:20):
wellness, and to address those integrationbarriers like professional, social personal barriers through
building language and leadership skills. Andwe use a peer to peer learning model
I mean, we're learning from eachother. And also it's very participatory.
So what we do is that webuild on the knowledge and skills people are
(02:45):
already bringing to the table to createnew knowledge, to create new skills,
and we foster a space where everybodyfeels safe, everybody's voice is heard,
and they feel empowered. The wayit works is that we have different groups
who meet from eight to ten participantsmeeting two times per week, and they
(03:07):
are meeting to our situations. Soit's kind of like an intense English practice.
They have two facilitators who are moderatingand leading the conversations, and they
really talk about everything that is importantto them. It can be culture,
it can be the new life.Here they share resources, they share their
skills, they share their background,and also we have some conversation circles that
(03:29):
are more target specific things like careerbuilding. So these are conversations that are
just specifically about career building and wedo this for a period of ten weeks
and we have some events in between. And you, Chah, maybe you
can tell us how did the twoof you come together to form this project.
(03:52):
So, as Kara mentioned, likewe join on Immigrant Leadership Institute,
a program at the Wellcommings Center.And then the program is really for immigrants
to discover and to explore and maybethe barriers or the challenges we have when
we move to Philadelphia and we haveto form a group. So we are
(04:16):
grouped like dandomly. So in thebeginning we were group of five, but
to left before pandemic and another oneleft during pandemic. So Karen and I,
you know, just keep doing it. I think the reason is because
we want to We are looking forthe census of purpose and the belonging and
(04:43):
independence. So from the program wehave to learn the barriers and from our
peers and from the community. Andthen we focus on language barrier, more
specifically the speaking parts, because wefound it is the most challenging part immigrants
have. Even we have a goodunderstanding in reading, writing, and listening,
(05:10):
but when it comes to speaking,it is always very challenging. So
we wanted to create the initiative wherewe can support ourselves and others, where
people feel like Karen mentioned sef andare understood while they are in this learning
process. Many immigrants, when youhear their stories, not only is their
(05:33):
journey to the United States a challenge, but the process of settling in and
acclimating integrating into their new community canbe a challenge as well, and the
challenge is isolation loneliness. It's somethingthat the Surgeon General the United States has
(05:55):
proclaimed to be an epidemic amongst Americans. In your own respective journe news when
you arrived here and Yu Shan,you came from Taiwan, Karen from Mexico,
did you experience loneliness or isolation andwhat was that challenge? Like I
first arrived in the US in twentysixteen, directly to Houston, Texas.
(06:17):
I moved here with my husband,he was studying in Houston at that moment.
And honestly, when I first movedto the US, I was very
excited. You know. I alwayswanted to see more of the world,
experience other cultures, experience other waysof living. So actually I came here
very excited. And you know,the first months or weeks they are like
(06:40):
what they call that honeymoon stage whereeverything's nice, everything is peak. You
are getting to know the new placeand new people. But after a little
while you passed that stage and youstart thinking about, Okay, so now
what I'm going to be doing withmy life here, and that's when reality
hits you, and when all thosebarriers kind of hitting the face as well,
(07:03):
like the English language for example.I learned English back home, but
coming here is very different. Youknow, you have different speeds, you
have different accents. So once youstart really realizing also your status, because
I came as a dependent, sothat meant I couldn't work or study full
(07:24):
time. So all those things startedto hit you and you start to realize
what's going on. So definitely Istart from that moment on, and not
having my family and friends close by, I really started to feel that loneliness
and that kind of isolation, andespecially in Houston, where everything is so
(07:46):
spread out that you would need acar to get around and I didn't know
how to drive, so I spentmost of my time at home. That
was very, very tough times forme. And you, Shan, did
you experience a similar journey. Yeah. So I am much older than most
people I know, and I dofeel the feeling of isolation, but that
(08:11):
was because I was very close tomy family and they were in Taiwan at
that time, and also during pandemic, it wasn't help. I was worried
about myself and my family because theywere so close to the place where the
pandemic outbreak started. So the challengesI have it's not only in terms of
(08:35):
the language barriers, it's also Icouldn't bring my family with me. Yeah,
would you say that, let's talk. Philly is in the business of
building confidence amongst participants. I willsay, like last PHELI was the response
to learn things and also to theimpact of cogniting pandemics because at the light
(09:01):
of time, like immigrants were oneof the most impact groups who experience a
highlighted sense of isolation due to thelockdown. They have to stay at home,
and we allow any opportunity to practiceand learn English and also to meet
(09:22):
with each other. And the otherhand is also they lose the opportunity to
build social capital and also to progressin their careers and also to find out
their learning paths. So I thinkCaroen mentioned we are more like a participatory
(09:43):
center. The program really starts inearnest at the beginning of the pandemic.
Is that correct? Yeah, Andwe at that time in early twenty twenty,
we are all making this remarkable adjustmentto virtual community. Some of us,
I would say, were unsure ofhow well that would go. Were
(10:05):
you surprised by how successful the programbecame, even in a fully virtual environment.
Yeah, and we usually said thatalso, it was kind of like
a blessing in these guys, becauseso the first idea was to do this
in person. It was meant tobe a few workshops where we would meet
(10:26):
and try this idea out. Butthen we all moved to online. We
have to adapt, and we feellike one of the things that made less
stockpili As success was being online becausewe could reach even more people that we
were imagining that we would. Immigrantsjoined from all around, not just Philly,
(10:48):
not just the state, but allaround the country. We have participants
joining from different states, and itgives them an opportunity to keep practicing and
build community even if they are faraway. Of immigrants, they cannot access
city programming because they cannot drive,or they're just too far or even you
know, we have a lot ofmoms that usually cannot I mean, they
(11:11):
have to take care of their families, so they don't have a lot of
time or space to join programs,and they want to keep developing themselves.
So it was an opportunity to reacheven more people who usually do not access
programs. And if somebody wants tobecome a participant in let's talk feeling now,
is it possible and is it stillfully virtual or do you also do
(11:33):
it in person? Yes, soour main conversation program session still remain online
because we still want to engage,especially like we have participants went back to
their country, but they wanted tostay connected. And also this is the
way we can have more best tohear like voices from different persis. But
(11:58):
we do try to organize like somein person events when it comes to like
a wellness day, you know duringpandemic, like a lot of us experience
like a mental wellness. So likeone of our elements in conversation circle is
we do like unli or in personwillness a day to adjust some issues or
(12:20):
some emotional willness we had. Sothe two of you have done a remarkable
job of building a new program fromscratch during an extraordinary difficult time, and
you designed something that not only isbuilding social capital, but responded to something
that both of you experienced in yourjourneys here, which was isolation and loneliness.
(12:46):
What one lesson would you want leadersin Philadelphia active community members, anybody
to know about your experience in creatingLet's talk Philly. I think for us
it is very important to honor mutualcollaborative leadership efforts and give spat to others
(13:11):
to express their voices reilar Lan speakfor them, and also it's very important
to pass mic to laws who candeliver the message on their own. Like
some of the various with Faster inLast Viti, respect, empathy, resilient,
(13:31):
cultural appreciation and hope. For us, it's about connecting each other through
the things we have in common andal show the richness of our differences.
Yeah, and it's just like reallyrecognizing that everyone has something to ring to
the table. Everyone has amazing storiesthat we need to make the space for
(13:56):
them to tell them and work withthem to create a better place and a
better city for everyone. Folks wouldlike to find out more and potentially join.
Where would they go? We haveour social media like on Facebook and
Instagram. Also we have our ownwebsite and when we have the new cycle
begin, we will share the fightersaround like participant and like partners. Actually,
(14:24):
we are about to start our newscycle of a night cod Hot in
March and now we are on thepreparing process for the information station for participant
and facilitators. Anyone can google lastSoukiviti and then they can find us very
easy. And what is the Instagramhandle and Facebook? The Instagram is lesstock
(14:46):
Philly CC and Facebook is less stockFilly as well, Jaron y Sean,
I think both of you are doingamazing work in creating a better city.
Thank you for joining us this morning. Thank you, thank you. You're
listening to Insight. This November sixteenth, Gilberto Gonzalez and I will be celebrating
(15:09):
fifteen years together, three of themmarried, so in time for Valentine's Day.
I'm re ary an interview we didtogether eight years into our relationship about
how we met, and so fora change, I thought I'd get really
up close and personal and bring mytrue love into the studio. Gilberto Gonzalez,
Hello, Hi baby, how areyou doing? How you doing?
(15:31):
I'm good of good. So whatwe're going to do is we're going to
talk about how we met and alittle bit of our story. So I
guess we'll start with how did wemeet? How did we meet? Well?
I was working on a project withMelissa Shapiro. She works for nonprofit
(15:52):
our organizations, and we were communicatingthrough Facebook back when Facebook kind of the
early beginnings of Facebook. Two.Yeah, so back then, when you
were on Facebook and communicating, littlepictures would pop up. So then your
picture popped up, and then youknow, I was like, wow,
(16:14):
mamyt that. I look at it. I was like, whoa, she's
hot. So so I friended youand you accepted. Yeah, because I
thought that you were someone I workedwith that I hadn't met yet. Because
back then, they also indicated whatnetwork you belonged to, and it said
that you belonged to CCP, andat the time, our company was called
(16:37):
Clear Channel Philadelphia CCP. But itturned out you were with with Community College
of Philadelphia, which is where youwork. Uh huh, yep, it's
a graphic designer. Yes, Andso you you started to communicate with me,
you know, you started to sendme messages. Yeah. Yeah,
I was like your baby, No, No, you did. No.
I was more like, uh,I don't know, I don't I really
(17:00):
I don't remember the you know,what the communication was, but I do
remember asking you out to let's geta cup of coffee or drink. And
I think it took a couple oftimes, but then you agreed to do
it. Well, we started totalk before we met, We emailed each
other, we facebooked each other first, and then you know, we got
Eventually I kind of figured out thatyou didn't work for a clear channel.
(17:22):
I thought you were really young.I mean I thought you were like in
your twenties or something. Really Yeah, for some reason, I had a
fake picture up. No no,no, But and then and then after
we talked for a little while,then I did agree to meet with you,
and I picked a public place andcame under armed guard. Yeah.
Now all my friends knew where Iwas going, and they were actually up
(17:44):
the street. And then and thenI walked. So what did you What
did you think when I walked inthe door. Well, actually I was
standing near the entrance of the restaurantand I saw you walking up the street
and I said, oh my god, I think that's her. And I
was really nervous, and I waslike, oh my god, she's too
(18:04):
beautiful. Soon she gets to looksand look at me, She's just gonna
walk down. No, So yeah, I didn't. I was expecting the
worst, you know. So Ithink you were like about a half a
block away across the street and Isaw you walking towards the place, and
I said, wow, that's Ithink that's her. And then when I
saw you, I thought, oh, he's really cute. I thought you're
(18:27):
very handsome. Thank you. Yes, And so we had we had dinner.
It was a standard tap, standardtap Northern Liberties. And then we
had I thought, a very nicedinner. You know. You seemed a
little shy. Yeah, I wasreally nervous. Yeah, and then you
walked me to my car. Yeah. And then I did something that I
(18:49):
don't normally do on a first date. I know, you kissed me and
I was, well, I wentin to kiss you and you kissed me
back, and I felt like Iwas twenty because I was I was like,
wow, my god, this isthis is so great. I you
know, again, I was stillnervous, you know, but yeah,
that first kiss was awesome. Sowhen did you know that I was the
(19:11):
one? I think the first interactionyou had with with my sons, like
my my children love you, andI think from the very first moment that
they connected with you. They youknow, I mean, they just love
you. I mean, and Iyou know, I don't let too many
(19:34):
people near my children. So whenyou came to Lucas's birthday, you know,
it was like this real sweet connectionand I was like, wow,
this is this is so wonderful.You know that that my children are connecting
with you, and I think thatjust completes everything, makes everything real,
real, beautiful. Well it's funnybecause I felt the same way. I
(19:56):
went to your son's birthday party andand you were so great with all the
kids there. There were a lotof kids or your family was there number
one For me, growing up askind of an only child, I you
know, I didn't really have thatfamily experience. So you had this really
(20:17):
great family circle. Everyone was verywarm and very welcoming. And then I
just observed how you were with thekids. You were so good with them.
They just connected with you. Youwere so sweet, and I just
thought, wow, this guy's reallyspecial, really cool. Really Yeah,
So that kind of cemented it.So name three things that we have in
(20:38):
common? Do you think? Ithink we do a lot of work in
the community, just I think connectingpeople and helping people in just In and
around the city. I mean,that's that's one thing that we have in
common. I think that we werevery loving, not just with each other,
(21:00):
but with family and friends. We'revery dedicated to them. And we
both like to dance, yes,yeah, yes, yeah, Well let's
see and things. The three thingsthat I think we have in common well,
definitely our love of community and ourcommitment to community. I think we
like to help people a lot,and we try and we love to dance.
(21:23):
This is true. So those arethree things. And I think we
try to grow, you know,we don't. We're not satisfied with being
just who we are. We alwayswant to be a better person, I
think, and we always strive forthat. Yeah. Well, I think
that's something we I admire about youis that you, you know, I
(21:45):
admire that about you that you alwaysstrive for more and always, you know,
go, you know, you gobeyond what most people would do.
And I think that's so beautiful.I mean, that's that's why I love
you. Yeah, that's why Ilove you too. So what are the
best times of the most difficult times? What are the best times? I
(22:06):
think, to be honest, everyday that we're together, it's like a
new day for me, you know, like and then sometimes when I don't
see you for a few days,I like, I like miss you.
So when I see you, it'slike, it's just so wonderful. So
that's the best when when I whenI'm with you, every time that I'm
with you, it's just beautiful andand and special. The most difficult would
(22:30):
be this thing that we called it. It. Yes, I nicknamed her
Cookie. So when Cookie comes out, I get a little scared, to
be honest, because it's like,I don't know, I you know,
it's it's a side of you thatrarely comes out. But when it comes
(22:51):
out, it's like, oh mygod, no, but it is because
it's not you, you know.I mean, it's that's the side of
you that that are hardly ever see. Well, when I see it,
it's like it's just I feel likeit's like so like it's not you,
Like it's Cookie. Yeah, thatdarn Cookie. Let's see the best times.
(23:11):
Well, I would agree with you. I we just have so much
fun together. I think we justhave a lot in common. We enjoy
a lot of the same things.We even like comic books, we like
you know, we like science fiction. I never really went out with anybody
who liked as many things in commonwith me that that you have in common.
So so that's fun. So whenwe can, you know, go
(23:33):
to fun movies and we can danceand all those things. So but yes,
I agree with you. I thinkI just really like being with you
because you're just very easy to bewith and you're so patient, especially when
Cookie shows up, which she does, which is rare, which is rare.
But I think you know, andI think that's probably the most difficult
(23:56):
times. So sometimes I do geta little broody at times, but it's
rare, you know, Thank you. I can handle Cookie. It can
handle Cookie. You can put Cookiein her place. No, no,
I just handle it. Okay.What advice do you have for young couples.
I think for young couples, Ithink really being honest and transparent.
(24:19):
I mean I think that like betweenus. I mean I think you grab
my cell phone, you can flipthrough it, you can do whatever you
want. I'm not like, don'ttouch my cell phone. You know that
kind of stuff. So I thinktransparency and that, you know, like
our lives. When you're a partof somebody, then it's everything, you
(24:41):
know what I mean. So it'slike my friends they have to like you,
and my family has to like you. If they don't like you,
then I'm not going to be sharingwith them because you're the one I love,
and you come first, you know, you and my children. So
I think for young couples they transparencyand sharing. And the other important thing
is that when you love somebody,you have to work at it right.
(25:04):
You can't just sit back and say, Okay, that's it. It's like
you have to appreciate every moment you'retogether, like I appreciate every moment that
we're together. Every moment we're togetheris special. I don't take take you
for granted at all, So don'ttake anyone for granted, especially the person
(25:25):
that you love. I agree.I think that trust is really important.
And if you don't have that,you don't have a real true relationship.
You know, if you are alwayswondering or you don't you know, you
think that someone is hiding something,then that's not a true love relationship.
You have to have total trust,and we have that, which I'm very
(25:45):
grateful for exactly, And I thinkyou're right. I think you know sometimes
things, you know, everything doesn'talways go smoothly. I mean, everything
isn't always perfect. When you firstgo out, you know, everything is
just everything is great, you know, it's everything. But then it comes
a time when there's a disagreement orthere's some breakdown, and it's your ability
(26:10):
to work through that that builds astronger relationship, builds greater intimacy, and
makes the relationship. It's the gluethat makes it last. I think,
you know, there's always going tobe stuff that happens, but if you
can't work it out, or let'sput it this way, the working out
(26:30):
of whatever those conflicts or issues areis a thing that makes your relationship stronger
for surely there. And Okay,tell me three things you like about me,
and I'll tell you three things Ilike about you. Three things that
I like about you. You're beautifulevery moment, like even now when I
(26:53):
look at you, you're just beautiful. That's one of my favorite things about
it. You're just so every dayis like a fresh breath of beauty every
day. The other thing that Ilike about you is again that you're a
very giving person, to the pointsometimes where it's kind of kind of hurts
(27:18):
sometimes, you know, but Ithink that you know, you learn and
you grow, but I think thatyou're you don't let the downfalls of being
a giving person stop you from givingto the people that need it, And
I think I love that about youbecause it just doesn't. You don't let
that side bring you down, butyou just keep forward and you keep giving,
(27:42):
and I just love that. Thenthe other thing I like and love
is that again, dancing. Ilove to dance. You love to dance,
and we just anywhere we go,we just dance, and I love
it. Well, you are,I think, very hot and handsome,
(28:02):
so yes, so I enjoy.I just feel like we fit as a
couple, you know. I justlike how we are together. There's something
about the way that you are.When I look into your eyes, there
is such a an openness and trustthere. You are so open, and
(28:26):
it always impresses me, especially becauseI know that you had difficulties in your
life. You didn't have an easychildhood, you didn't have an easy adolescent.
You were in an environment where manyof the people that you grew up
with are dead or addicted or injail. And you didn't choose to go
(28:51):
that way, but you were inthat environment. And so it just always
amazes me when I look at youat how open and loving and almost childlike
in your openness that you have beenable to remain despite having gone through all
(29:12):
the things that you've gone through,I mean, really pretty rough stuff.
So that, to me is themost phenomenal thing about you, is that
you were able to get through everythingthat you've been through and still come out
on the other side being as lovingand as generous and as kind and as
giving as you are. And thatis pretty remarkable. And I love your
(29:38):
creativity. I love the fact thatyou're an artist and a filmmaker, and
you know that you have such agreat creative element to who you are.
I think I enjoy that and it'svery I love that about you. I
love that you paint and make moviesand and are able to share your gift
(30:02):
with other people. I love you. I love you too. Thank you,
thank you. I love you,baby, I love you too.
You can listen to all of today'sinterviews by going to our station website and
typing in keyword Community. You canalso listen on the iHeartRadio app keyword Lorraine
(30:25):
with one R. Follow me onTwitter and Instagram at Lorraine Ballard. I'm
Lorraine Ballard, Moral and I standfor service to our community and media that
empowers. What will you stand for? You've been listening to insight and thank you
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