How it All Began

Life was simple and much less complicated then for Ray, Archie, and Jay. They were childhood friends from a small town back in the Philippines who went to school together and have lost touch through the years after graduating from high school. As the years went by, nothing was heard from each other. But as social media become popular, they were able to find a way to reconnect. Now all grown up, they also shared something in common. They all became nurses! A profession that requires compassion and empathy for others must be the same traits that brought them back together. Their friendships have matured through time and bonded by memories now continues on to the next chapter.

A trip up in the mountains of Sierra Nevada was planned by Archie for Jay’s birthday weekend. This was the first time in a long time these three friends had the opportunity to bond. And it didn’t fail, they had a blast! Having each other like a brother, conversation runs bottomless. Even being vulnerable at times but just like how it’s always been, reassuring that they have each other’s back. After three days of camping, hiking, and sharing their passion in drinking wine from every wineries along the way. The guys came home to a delightful hot meal prepared by Anh, Archie’s wife. On the kitchen table as everyone sat down to enjoy the food, a conversation was struck about their home town and the unlikely and undesirable conditions that people lived in, especially the elderly. This left a mark on Archie when he first visited his home town after twenty years. These sentiments shared by all four friends brought up the idea of having a non-profit organization.

Much more than a conversation, Let Us Thrive Foundation was created - a non-profit community aiming to inspire hope and empower others to advocate for their health and wellbeing by providing education, more access to care, and reducing health disparities to the underserved communities. This was a mission inspired by the values and experiences of four individuals. Ray, who came from a politically-inclined family whose grandmother once served as the town mayor. He was born and raised in the United States but decided to move back to the Philippines when he was a junior in high school. Even then, in a country where kids like Ray may have a better chance to succeed in life, still he wasn’t able to run away from suitability. He went through a difficult time in his life, trying to find himself in the midst of all that uncertainty. After abiding with all the things in his life he decided to return to the US and gain another chance to start over. He started as a cook working in a restaurant but built his way up to a nursing career. Now as a registered nurse, he is doing traveling contracts and working for some of the biggest hospitals in the country. Soon to be married, with a baby on the way, Ray spends half of the year in Australia with his family.

Archie’s upbringing is similar in many ways. His parents migrated to the United States when he was still very young. He attended private school with his older sister in the care of relatives. A mischievous kid who always got in trouble with the teachers. Soon after the sixth grade he was taken to the states by his parents but just for a couple of years. He returned to the Philippines and finished high school in the same school. With no prospect of going to college, he joined the family back in the US. The family settles in Maine and Archie started doing odd jobs working seven days a week to get by, he was seventeen years old. Looking at a clouded future he joined the US Army when he turned eighteen and soon became the infantry fire team leader and then sniper team leader after that. This is where he met his future wife to be, Anh. After serving for ten years, he joined the police force and was the only cop of Asian descent within his area in Maine. After getting married and having two kids, the young family moved to California. Archie is now working as a case manager for a Silicon Valley company reviewing clients' cases.

Immaculate Conception School or ICS was the only Catholic School in the town of Naic and its neighboring towns of Maragondon and Ternate. Kids from these areas would travel two towns over leaving early in the morning just to be in school by 7AM every day. This was the daily routine of Jay as a kid. Jay, his sister and his mother moved to the province of Ternate after his father passed away when he was only one year old. A son of an American G.I. to a Filipina woman, Jay has always felt different in many ways. Apart from the color of his skin, to the way he looks and even his personality spoke of how much American he has in him. It also becomes a constant reminder of the social stigma of being an “Amboy”, a term used to describe a mixed Filipino-American kid, who at the same time was illegitimate. While his surroundings were a world with different way of life, Jay had always been friendly. He’s a social butterfly and you can never wash a smile off his face. A personality trait that helped him tremendously to make friends and fit in; in a place where his appearance stuck out like a sore thumb. He stayed in the Philippines and enrolled in a nursing program. He also stayed active in social political scene and served in two national elections from 1992 to 1999. Now he is planning a wedding, taking his masters and working as a simulation coordinator for a non-profit children hospital in San Diego.

Among all four of them and the only woman in the group, Anh could be considered the one who accomplished the aim in her nursing career. Born in Vietnam at the later end of the war, her parents fled to the Philippines to escape tyranny and oppression. To be a refugee in Bataan was perhaps the driving force that initiated her to succeed. This is also where her deep-rooted indebtedness to the Philippines came from. The experience is something that fuels her determination to build an organization that can serve those in need in the Philippines. Eventually Anh’s family resettled in the United States - a chance to rebuild a life that the war once tried to destroy. She joined the military in 1997 as airman supply in the Navy. After her discharge from the service, she married Archie and started to build a family. They were blessed to have two sons, although struggling as a young family. Her hard work and perseverance paid off when she landed a lucrative career in nursing. She was published twice in the Journal of the American Heart Association and she spearheaded the trauma program as a stroke navigator in one of the biggest healthcare systems in northern California. Today, Anh is working as a stroke program coordinator in Maine.

Thus, Let Us Thrive Foundation, a non-profit community built with compassion to service the impoverished villages in the Philippines, was founded. Based on each experience of these four friends who took different paths and endured life’s trials and tribulations but through determination and faith, they were able to create something that they never even thought possible. A wish that truly came true.