Jenny’s Story

In 1983, Jenny and her husband arrived in Orange County. Jenny was 23 years old, a survivor of the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia, and had spent the last three years living in refugee camps. They first moved to the Minnie Neighborhood of Santa Ana. Jenny was one of many Cambodian refugees to settle in that neighborhood in the early 1980s. Several of Jenny’s Minnie Street neighbors came together to form a nonprofit called The Cambodian Family
Community Center. The nonprofit helped Jenny find services for her family, enroll her children in school and even naturalize Jenny as a U.S. citizen. Meanwhile, Jenny and her husband worked hard to support their growing family. They sold wholesale hair ties in downtown Los Angeles, worked swap meets, retail and at a sewing company. They sent all of their children to college and bought a home in Garden Grove. In 2001, Jenny and her husband opened a donut shop in Garden Grove. Today, the shop is a great success. Jenny employs a number of people from her old neighborhood. Her children have graduated college and now serve in the Army and Air Force. She donates baked goods to local police officers and nonprofits. She is proud that she can now give back to the country, the neighborhood and the nonprofit that gave her so much.

Thirty-four years later, Jenny sat in the corner of her busy shop, reflecting on her journey with members of The Cambodian Family. “I am Cambodian and I love this country,” Jenny said, pausing every so often as a soft chime signaled another customer. “I love that this country has given my family a lot of opportunities. My ‘American Dream’ was to have a house, a good job and to have my children grow up in a safe environment with access to education. My dream came true.”