Green Card Voices, The Podcast

During the first week of Asian and Pacific Islander American Heritage Month, our series host Tri Vo talks to Rev. Dana Neuhauser and Rev. Tyler H. Sit, spiritual leaders at New City Church in Minneapolis, MN. They share stories of confronting and adapting to the COVID 19 pandemic both in their personal lives and in their church. When communities can no longer physically gather, Dana and Tyler discuss what it means to maintain spiritual practices, to practice a mindset of abundance during a time of heightened fear and toilet paper hoarding, and to continue to collectively approach some of life’s biggest questions.

Join the Green Card Voices podcast community and hear more from Dana and Tyler by becoming Patron at www.patreon.com/gcvpodcast

Share Dana and Tyler’s conversation online—using the #LoveYourAsianNeighbors hashtag—and tell us your story of raising the voices, whether it’s your own or another’s voice, of Asian Americans.

Learn more about New City Church at grownewcity.church

Discussed this week:

ABOUT THIS SPECIAL SERIES:

As we continue to live in the middle of the COVID 19 pandemic, cases of xenophobia and race-based hate crimes targeting Asian American communities have escalated in an alarming yet not unprecedented manner. To combat the harmful rhetoric being spread and inflicted on our neighbors, Green Card Voices has launched #LoveYourAsianNeighbors campaign. In this special podcast series, we highlight the lived narratives of Asian Americans overcoming difficulties, finding abundance in the face of scarcity, and taking action towards a better future.

Share Mk and Hoang’s conversation online, using the #LoveYourAsianNeighbors hashtag. Share with us your story of raising the voices, whether it’s your own or another’s voice, of Asian Americans.

On this week’s episode our series host Tri Vo checks in with Hoang Murphy, the Founder/Executive Director of Foster Advocates, and MK Nguyen, a cultural worker based in the Frogtown Neighborhood of Saint Paul. With attention to both immediate needs and future possibility, they talk about making it through shelter-in-place with intentional community-building, the impact of the COVID 19 crisis on youth in Minnesota’s foster care system, and accessing resources in our communities and within ourselves

Join the Green Card Voices podcast community and hear more from Hoang and MK by becoming Patron at www.patreon.com/gcvpodcast

Share Mk and Hoang’s conversation online, using the #LoveYourAsianNeighbors hashtag. Share with us your story of raising the voices, whether it’s your own or another’s voice, of Asian Americans.

Discussed this week:

ABOUT THIS SPECIAL SERIES:

As we continue to live in the middle of the COVID 19 pandemic, cases of xenophobia and race-based hate crimes targeting Asian American communities have escalated in an alarming yet not unprecedented manner. To combat the harmful rhetoric being spread and inflicted on our neighbors, Green Card Voices has launched #LoveYourAsianNeighbors campaign. In this special podcast series, we highlight the lived narratives of Asian Americans overcoming difficulties, finding abundance in the face of scarcity, and taking action towards a better future.

Our first episode of #LoveYourAsianNeighbors special series dives into what it means to be in community during the pandemic, to center those with the least access as we create solutions, and to find abundance in the face of scarcity.

We’re joined by series host Tri Vo, and community leaders Bo Thao-Urabe, Founder and Executive Director of the Coalition of Asian American Leaders (CAAL), and Nausheena Hussain, Founder and Executive Director of Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment (RISE).

To find out more about Bo and Nausheena's work please visit,

Discussed this week:

Join the Green Card Voices podcast community and support immigrant storytelling: www.patreon.com/gcvpodcast

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ABOUT THIS SPECIAL SERIES:

As we continue to live in the middle of the COVID 19 pandemic, cases of xenophobia and race-based hate crimes targeting Asian American communities have escalated in an alarming yet not unprecedented manner. To combat the harmful rhetoric being spread and inflicted on our neighbors, Green Card Voices has launched #LoveYourAsianNeighbors campaign. In this special podcast series, we highlight the lived narratives of Asian Americans overcoming difficulties, finding abundance in the face of scarcity, and taking action towards a better future.

Green Card Voices, the Podcast is shifting our regular storytelling program for a special series focused on the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic in immigrant and refugee communities.

Join our community on Patreon and support immigrant storytelling: patreon.com/gcvpodcast

Sending thoughts of healing, air-hugs, and positive vibrations to everyone!

Thorunn Bjarnadottir first came to the University of Minnesota as an international student. Since then, she has built a life in Minnesota with a family born on multiple continents. Today Thorunn is the Director of Intercultural Education at the University of Minnesota’s International Student and Scholar Services. Through her work, she helps people from around the world navigate cultural differences.

Join our community on Patreon and support immigrant storytelling: patreon.com/gcvpodcast

Today Miguel Ramos is the Senior Director of  Diversity & Inclusion Strategy for the Minnesota Twins Baseball Club. He is a tireless community advocate who strives to build rich partnerships and create better opportunities for those just arriving in the United States. But Miguel’s story begins in Puerto Rico, where he grew up and broke in his first baseball glove.

Join our community on Patreon and support immigrant storytelling: patreon.com/gcvpodcast

Muhend Abakar is well-known for his athletic achievements—from the soccer field to the basketball court to the 3,200-meter relay. Growing-up first in Sudan, then Egypt, and finally, the United States, sports were a familiar way for Muhend to connect with new people in unfamiliar places.

Join our community on Patreon and support immigrant storytelling: patreon.com/gcvpodcast

Regina Santiago tells her story of immigration, education, and optimism. It’s a story that unfolds in the many diverse classrooms where she has been both a student and a teacher: from a Filipino Catholic elementary school, to an American-style school in Indonesia, to a small liberal arts college in the Midwest, and finally to the classroom where she currently teaches first and second graders in St. Paul, Minnesota

Join our community on Patreon and support immigrant storytelling: patreon.com/gcvpodcast

Vy Luong grew up in Châu Thành district in Tiền Giang province, Vietnam. His immigration story begins much earlier and spans multiple generations of his family. Vy's grandfather is an American that served in the Vietnam War. Her mother is half American. After the war, they lost contact. When Vy was in sixth grade, his family left home in Vietnam to move to the United States to reunite with his grandfather. It's been 40 years since his mother has seen his father. Vy hopes to become a family physician after the support he received from moving to the US.

Join our community on Patreon and support immigrant storytelling: patreon.com/gcvpodcast

Tommy Beevas grew up in Kingston, Jamaica. The loss he felt leaving behind the familiarity of his grandmother’s kitchen was the spark of his entrepreneur journey in the United States. After winning the Food Network’s, Food Court Wars, Tommy left his corporate career to open Pimento Jamaican Kitchen in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Pimento’s flagship location is now a staple of Minneapolis’ Eat Street, a celebrated hub of international food.

Join our community on Patreon and support immigrant storytelling: patreon.com/gcvpodcast