Maryland Support Network for Immigrants

When you arrived in Maryland, did you search network? Did you search for support to a new place? It's hard to do it alone.

Yes, exactly the place when I started there, the people, the culture of my employees, they're very helpful. I'm comparing this from where new I came, also New York is tougher to have, to penetrate a support network in New York City is easier in Maryland, people are very warm, warmer and are very down to earth, people are very helpful.

It's just because it's the less hassle and bustle people, they're just chill. They're very relaxed, they're not very stressed. That's one of the reason why we chose Maryland to for a long term decision for us, because the culture, the support system is important, as I said, and it's not hard to penetrate to have a support system, people are very warm, very helpful.

When they know that you're there, you're a new person, they're going to be very helpful for you I'm a traveling nurse, I am always new to different hospitals, I'm always new to different places. And I can tell you, this is one place that I felt like I fell home in couple of months. The people that are very nice, and very helpful, they will treat you like a family.

Well, how about the treatment of your family, your spouse and your kids? How did they How did they settle them kind of support did they have whenever they arrive?

So my husband is not Filipino his half American so yeah, so he actually enjoyed it more to because now he get oriented or he made a lot of friends that are non non of his culture believed in some very hard to find in America. So I'm telling you that he told me I was lucky to find him.

Lucky One man.

So this is something that it was easy for him to take because the support system again, the people are warmer and welcoming to him. And I'm talking that because he found Bolivians, no majority of his friends are there were very welcoming one of his bosses is Indian, Mediterranean, as they said, group, non Filipino, non Bolivian, but they're very welcoming to us as well.

And what type of community support systems are there? Are there any sort of organizations that you think that nurses who are moving to Maryland should reach out to in order to have that support?

Absolutely there's a lot of events when you talk about events, cultural events, there's a lot in especially in DC. So you will have all those who are Latino experience, Latino festivals, you will have your Filipino festival, you have your Japanese celebrations in there. So you will always find like those communities in there before it was harder to find those support system. But now, because of Facebook and social media, if you go to Facebook, and you join like a shortcut group that says there for me Filipinos in Marylanders actually Facebook group there, let's say the save valuable group in Maryland, which I also joined before New York. So I joined a social groups of Filipino, sorry, New York volleyball players. So then I just joined and so I went in there, and I meet a lot of people who play volleyball.

So I've never met them in my whole life but we all have one in common, which is valuable. And friends it so so there is a lot of which is a good thing, now It's not hard to adjust compared to 10 years ago, when there was no Facebook yet, there was no way of social media now use those tools. Those are very helpful tools, find something that you like, and then you find that in that Maryland, Maryland is a Maryland hobby for cars, something like that. So there's a lot of social connection that you can make in therapy outside your own personal network, you can use that tool. And if you have something very common you can, it's easy to help to find them.

And also there are you were talking about volleyball there are a lot of pro sports teams in Maryland. They have the Baltimore Ravens, they actually won the Super Bowl. And so there are lots of pro sports events that you can go to and there's nothing more. I think that that brings people together and it's so interesting and so wonderful. Like you were saying with volleyball, we don't know anything about each other but high five, we're playing volleyball and we're on the same team and a great way to also meet other people and there are people from from all over the world.