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Allyson Vergara

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Los Angeles
As seen in: Southern California News Group, The Orange County Register, MSN, Los Angeles Times, NBC News, NBC News Latino, Chicago Tribune, Flipboard, The Mercury News, Baltimore Sun, Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Denver Post and
Covers:  Local/enterprise news, features, race, religion, human interest, health, education, arts and culture
👩🏻‍💻🇵🇭 momma with words in @pressenterprise @ocregister @sbsun @socalnewsgroup. b4: @newmarkjschool @nbcnews @latimes @americamag. tips: avergara@scng.com
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Why the Inland Empire's Asian population grew 36% in 10 years

Why the Inland Empire's Asian population grew 36% in 10 years

The Press-Enterprise — Meiko Inaba didn't have to go far to learn she wasn't welcome. When Inaba and her husband, Mitsuru "Mits" Inaba, moved to their east Riverside home in 1969, "we opened up the garage, and on the water heater someone had written 'Japs go home,'" Meiko Inaba, now an 84-year-old widow, said.
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How surge in hate crimes is pushing Asian Americans to stand up for mental health

How surge in hate crimes is pushing Asian Americans to stand up for mental health

The Press-Enterprise — In late March, Jackie Vu posted a typewritten, racist letter sent anonymously to her family's nail salon in Riverside. She said she posted the letter not to draw attention to the business or how her family was affected, but to make the point that racism of any form is unacceptable.
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Southern California suicides down during coronavirus pandemic - but not among young people

Southern California suicides down during coronavirus pandemic - but not among young people

Orange County Register — In late December, freshman Rodney Moore Jr. went back-to-school shopping with his family after getting a message that Anaheim High School - closed since March by the coronavirus pandemic - might reopen. "He got so excited; he even picked out a new backpack at Costco," his mother Adriana Moore said through tears.
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Surge in anti-Asian hate crimes raises fears in Southern California

Surge in anti-Asian hate crimes raises fears in Southern California

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin — For several weeks last April, Garden Grove resident Linda Nguyen didn't leave her home. She worked remotely. She ordered her groceries and food online. She didn't take walks in the neighborhood. What Nguyen says "paralyzed" her was not the coronavirus.
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'Arcángel' in Brooklyn - The Tablet

'Arcángel' in Brooklyn - The Tablet

The Tablet — Cándido Arcángel opens the basement of his shop to homeless men so that they will have a warm and safe place to sleep at night. He is a Catholic from the Dominican Republic who attends Mass at St. Catherine of Alexandria in Borough Park.
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A Filipino favorite, Jollibee aims for international growth

A Filipino favorite, Jollibee aims for international growth

NBC News — It's been called the "McDonald's of the Philippines," and the late Anthony Bourdain dubbed it " the wackiest, jolliest place on earth." Jollibee, a fast food chain based in the Philippines, has become one of the world's largest restaurant franchises, with more than 4,000 stores in 23 countries, including 37 in the United States.
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Most of us would fail the U.S. citizenship test, survey finds

Most of us would fail the U.S. citizenship test, survey finds

NBC Latino — Think you know your U.S. history and government? Then why does the flag have 13 stripes? What are the three branches of government? Who did the United States fight in World War II? A new poll shows that only a little over a third of Americans would pass a basic multiple choice U.S.
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Why do Catholics make up a majority of the Supreme Court?

Why do Catholics make up a majority of the Supreme Court?

America Magazine — There are nine justices on the Supreme Court, and four of them (Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Sonia Sotomayor) are practicing Catholics, as is retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy. Conservative Neil Gorsuch was raised Catholic but reportedly attends an Episcopal church.
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Little Saigon tries shuttles to ease congestion and boost tourism

Little Saigon tries shuttles to ease congestion and boost tourism

Los Angeles Times — A sign on Westminster's Bolsa Avenue reads "Welcome to Little Saigon: Together, We Build a Better Future." In the past few months, other signs have popped up as part of an effort to further that promise: "Little Saigon Shuttle."
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Simbang Gabi: Filipino tradition prepares the faithful to celebrate Christmas

Simbang Gabi: Filipino tradition prepares the faithful to celebrate Christmas

Angelus News — Hundreds of Filipinos and non-Filipinos throughout Southern California gathered at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Downtown Los Angeles, for an Advent liturgy and parade procession, reflecting one of the oldest Christmastime traditions in the Philippines. The 14th annual Simbang Gabi Mass on Dec.
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Running with Vision: Meet the Doctor Giving Sight to Blind Runners

Running with Vision: Meet the Doctor Giving Sight to Blind Runners

NBC News — Dr. Vincent Hau remembers the first time he ran a timed marathon. He had been training for months and had completed shorter races in Tuscon, Big Sur, New York, and Chicago before attempting the 2014 Boston Marathon.
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Grassroots groups help create young activists

Grassroots groups help create young activists

motthavenherald.com — Holding a handmade sign, Tatiyana Dorsey, 12, marched down 138th St. in Mott Haven with a group of local kids, all shouting for justice for Puerto Ricans after Hurricane Maria. "We are not a colony! You owe us an apology!" "I wish that adults would understand kids better," said Dorsey, a seventh grader at Bronx Academy of Letters.
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Immigrants receive a helping hand

Immigrants receive a helping hand

motthavenherald.com — As immigrant students trickled into a classroom in the basement of St. Jerome Catholic Church on E. 138th Street, they sang "God Bless America," ending with a resounding, "My home sweet home." It was a weekly Thursday night citizenship class, one of several offered as part of a new, in-demand immigration program at St.
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Bubble Tea Fest Celebrates Taiwan's Food and Culture

Bubble Tea Fest Celebrates Taiwan's Food and Culture

voicesofny.org — It's more than sweetened milk tea and an assortment of colorful, chewy tapioca pearls for attendees at the inaugural NYC Bubble Tea Festival in Times Square. The drink, originating in Taiwan during the 1980s, is a cultural phenomenon. Quan Chien Phan, an immigrant from Taipei who now lives on Long Island, came to the festival on Sept.
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Coffeehall Chinatown: Brewing Community and Rotating Roasters in the Heart of Los Angeles

Coffeehall Chinatown: Brewing Community and Rotating Roasters in the Heart of Los Angeles

KCET-TV (Burbank, CA) — Coffee, community and endless ping-pong - that's what CoffeeHall Chinatown offers to visitors and locals. Located at Mandarin Plaza in the heart of Los Angeles' Chinatown, CoffeeHall is a "showroom" for local specialty coffee shops and roasters to bring the best of their product.
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Orange County's first modern streetcar plans to be the future of transit on track

Orange County's first modern streetcar plans to be the future of transit on track

Los Angeles Times — Living carefree and car-free is what the Orange County Transportation Authority's latest Measure M-funded project - called OC Streetcar - hopes to do for county residents, commuters and tourists.
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Actress Asia Jackson wants to take on 'colorism,' redefine Filipino beauty

Actress Asia Jackson wants to take on 'colorism,' redefine Filipino beauty

NBC News — Growing up half black and half Filipino, Asia Jackson was not always comfortable in her own skin. "Having curly hair and darker skin, I had major identity issues as a child," the 23-year-old told NBC News. "People were telling me I'm 'too white' because I don't look black, and I'm not Asian because I don't look Asian.
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Women-led mosque opens to build place where 'everybody is welcome'

Women-led mosque opens to build place where 'everybody is welcome'

NBC News — Rabi'a Keeble has long believed that in the United States, women play important roles outside of the home, but when she thought about how they are treated in some mosques - seated in the back or in separate sections where even hearing the imam can be difficult - she felt it was unfair.
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Kids and mental health: CHOC builds the county's first inpatient facility for youths ages 3 to 18

Kids and mental health: CHOC builds the county's first inpatient facility for youths ages 3 to 18

Los Angeles Times — One of the earliest hints arrived when Chris Dureiko was picking up her eldest son, Sean, from day care. She noticed the then-9-year-old's hands were red and bruised, as if he had a rash. "[Then] I caught him one day washing his hands while counting for half an hour," recalled Dureiko, who lives in Irvine.
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Hew and haul: The tradition of cutting down your own holiday tree lives on

Hew and haul: The tradition of cutting down your own holiday tree lives on

Los Angeles Times — The image of a family making a day of chopping down a holiday tree and happily dragging it home to be decorated may seem quaint. But the handful of family-owned tree farms in Orange County still draw people who crave the fresh smell of a nice spruce or fir and appreciate the time-honored tradition of hewing and hauling it themselves.
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How vet completed a 3-year, coast-to-coast run

How vet completed a 3-year, coast-to-coast run

The Press-Enterprise — On Aug. 20, Ernie Andrus finished a 2,638.1-mile race from San Diego to the Georgia coast - one day after his 93rd birthday. The retired Navy veteran, originally from Kansas, completed the race over a period of two years and 10 months and finished with a time of "999 hours, 32 minutes and 1 second," he says.
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LA Mayor, Homeland Security chief urge undocumented immigrants to 'step forward' - Asian Journal

LA Mayor, Homeland Security chief urge undocumented immigrants to 'step forward' - Asian Journal

Asian Journal — Since President Barack Obama announced his executive action on immigration last November, hundreds of departments and organizations have been gearing up to implement the plans that are estimated to affect millions of undocumented residents living in the United States.
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