Finding Safety, Building Home

This episode follows Emma Yaaka, a Ugandan refugee who arrived in the U.S. in 2017 and built a life centered on advocacy and community care. He shares his journey fleeing violence as a queer man, surviving displacement in Kenya, and starting over in the U.S. with almost nothing. Emma arrived in the States during turbulent times, as protections for immigrants were beginning to erode and Chicago’s migrant communities faced heightened ICE activity under Trump’s second term. Through his work with Heartland Human Services and the U.S. Refugee Integration Organization, we see how community networks step in where systems fall short. Hosted by Grace Asiegbu, this episode is a story about survival, belonging, and the ways people grow forward together, even when the ground keeps shifting.

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