At Catholic Charities Fort Worth’s (CCFW) Immigration Services, we are dedicated to providing hope, respect, and comprehensive support to every individual we serve. Our mission is to empower immigrants and refugees to create brighter futures for themselves and their families. Below, our Immigration Services Manager, Hoai Hoang, shares her journey from client to employee, and highlights just what makes our services so critical for the immigrants we serve.
HOAI’S STORY
I was born in Vietnam into a family of seven brothers and sisters. My dad worked for the United States government under Vietnam’s old regime. Because of his work, he was granted refugee status, but was not able to come to the United States as he did not want to leave his old parents behind. Eventually, many years later, my parents came to the United States as immigrants from my aunt’s petition, but my dad’s refugee file was still open.
Catholic Charities Fort Worth was my sponsor when I arrived. In Vietnam, I had been working as a banker at a Japanese Bank for eight years. Even though I had a lot of experience in the field, I couldn’t get a job at a bank here in the United States. So, Catholic Charities sponsored me to take a paralegal course and it changed my life.
Being a paralegal was completely different than my profession in Vietnam. When I started the course, it was very difficult. All the classes were in English and, as a new arrival, it was hard to learn all of the laws in the United States. I had to learn about all different kinds of law: business, family law, international, everything.
It was really difficult, but I passed it. I graduated with a 93 and received my paralegal certification from the University of North Texas.
I’ve always been appreciative of Catholic Charities sponsoring me. I’m now a manager in CCFW’s Immigration Services department and I’m able to serve other refugees and immigrants, just like me.
I screen clients for eligible benefits, help people reunite with their families here in the United States, apply for their green cards and obtain their citizenship.
Because I’m a refugee myself, I understand the importance of Her job and the love that’s required to do it. It takes patience to help them. They are reserved, but they can feel that I’m helping them with my whole heart.
Whether it’s helping them secure a work permit, helping them to reunite with their families or helping them get their green card or citizenship, Her job lets me help people and help families – that’s why I love it. Because of the mission of Catholic Charities, we are able to give them hope, just like I was given.
When a client first comes to Catholic Charities, they don’t speak English at all. So, we start by communicating with just body language or an interpreter. After a few months, at their next appointment, they can speak a little bit of English. A few years later, they are fluent and pursuing their citizenship. So, from not speaking English to getting their citizenship – I love to watch their journeys unfold.
I will never forget the story of one woman, a long time ago. She had come to the United States but had left her children behind in the middle of a war. She eventually located her children in another country and we helped her to petition for her kids to join her in the United States. It was very hard and difficult. It took a long time to communicate back and forth until, finally, her petition was approved.
She was so thankful, and she wanted so badly to give me a gift for helping her; of course, I can’t accept gifts from clients. But she gave me a dollar and she said, “Can you go to the vending machine to buy yourself a coke?” She just wanted to feel like she was doing something, anything to say thank you to me, but her being reunited with her family is already a huge gift to me.
It is so difficult to become a citizen, but whenever they do, my clients are so appreciative and grateful