Growing up in Texas, Jose Borjon's mom raised him to love his community and help the people around him. He never would have guessed that his passion for serving others would take him all the way from the Rio Grande Valley to Washington, D.C.

Host: May Ortega

QuienAreWe.org

Twitter: @MayVOrtega, @COPublicRadio

Correction: An earlier version of this episode misidentified a school that Jose Borjon attended. It is Texas Southmost College. The audio has been updated.

Victor Sosa always loved plants. But it wasn't until the Denver entrepreneur saw a post online that he realized he might be able to turn his passion into a business opportunity. He didn't just make the sale. He made houseplants accessible to his community in a whole new way.

Host and producer: May Ortega

Brandon Vargas feels incredible pride when he thinks of his grandmother's green chile recipe. So he set out to recreate it for his friends and family. There was just one catch: She never wrote down the recipe.

Host and producer: May Ortega

In this episode, it's our host's turn to tell her own story! Growing up in Texas, May Ortega thought she had a pretty good idea of who she was. But but when she became a journalist, she realized that to report on other people, she had to figure out her own story.

Denise Soler Cox was lonely growing up outside New York City. Her parents were Puerto Rican, and the dominant culture in her town was white. It wasn't until she grew up and moved away that she realized there was a whole community of people who feel just like her. She knew she had to share this community with others, and so the idea for a film was born. The only thing she needed to figure out was how to make a film.

Host and producer: May Ortega

Thanks also to Hart van Denburg, Jodi Gersh, Clara Shelton, Matt Herz, Kim Nguyen, Brittany Werges and CPR's Latino Audience Working Group.

QuienAreWe.org

Follow May on Twitter: @MayVOrtega, @COPublicRadio

Allan Benavides grew up in Southern California, in a family that loved baseball. Despite his family's wishes, he couldn't be a player. Still, he dreamed of working with the sport in some way. Eventually he landed his dream job — in a town that was much whiter than the one he was from. Could he create a new sense of community and pride there among Latino baseball fans?

QuienAreWe.org

Follow May on Twitter: @MayVOrtega, @COPublicRadio

When Jon Baron's plan to attend college didn't work out, he realized something was missing from his life. So he worked his way into Denver’s vibrant brewing scene, where he grew to love the techniques behind brewing. Still, it took a special drink from his heritage, brewed with centuries of myth and meaning, to find what he'd been missing.

Host and producer: May Ortega

QuienAreWe.org

Follow May on Twitter: @MayVOrtega, COPublicRadio

This summer, get ready for a new podcast about being Latino, Hispanic or Chicana – or however you identify – and the beautiful things that make us who we are.

Host and journalist May Ortega will share the everyday stories of some incredible people, and explore how we connect with our heritage through our interests.

You'll hear from a brewer, a dancer, a baseball lover, a filmmaker and many others with moving stories. You’ll hear journeys of Latino identity, relationships with parents and friends, and the ways new places show us new parts of who we are. But most importantly, you'll hear yourself in these stories.

¿Quién Are We? from Colorado Public Radio debuts July 8. Follow us on your favorite podcast app so you don’t miss an episode.