Phil Caturan, pastor at Green Acres Baptist Church, came to the U.S. 10 years ago to join his wife who came before him after being recruited as a nurse in Tyler.

When Jose Santos first came to Mount Pleasant from the Philippines in 1992, kindness from his neighbors was one of the things that helped him adjust.

Sometimes that kindness looked like food from their gardens. Other times it was when Jose, a home health therapist, was working with a patient who asked him if he’d ever had chicken and dumplings. When he said no, the patient made him the dish.

“Oh, wow,” Jose recalled saying after tasting the dish. “So it’s like a little taste from home here in East Texas.”

The dish reminded him of a Chinese soup dish he would have in the Philippines called shumai.

A Filipino community in East Texas

In early October, Ed Santos, physical therapist and Tyler resident, greeted guests as an emcee at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Filipinos gathered to eat, talk and meet some of the recent arrivals from the Philippines. Ed encouraged them to connect with each other.

“I tell them you’re not just a proud Filipino,” Ed said. “You’re a Texan now — an East Texan of Filipino history and origin.”

He left the Philippines after graduating and getting recruited in 1991. Ed grew up in Manila, the big city in the Philippines, as the oldest of three brothers. Ed considered his future in the Philippines and decided to leave because the president, at the time, was a dictator.

When Ed arrived from Manila, he stepped foot in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. He was told he could get a plane from there to Tyler. He realized it was less than two hours and opted for a car. In contrast to the Philippines, which is made up of islands, he found traveling by car was very common in Texas.

For Filipinos, arriving, transportation and culture are an adjustment. In addition to adjusting to a new country, they are learning new culture norms, language, and missing family and friends.

Jose would come to Tyler and load up on food for his family from an Asian grocery store. He lives in Mount Pleasant and occasionally comes to Tyler for Filipino and Friends events and Walk with a Doc.

For former national chess champion Angelito Abella, he missed his friends and his mother back in the Philippines. He had to adjust to using English more and new customs. He attends Filipino and Friends events and enjoys being there as the Filipino community comes together from different churches.

“Whenever there’s a gathering, it’s neutral ground,” Abella said. “(You’re) there to have fun, often meet new ones and reconnect with old ones.”

Abella works for Christus Health as a clinical engineer. He moved to Tyler in 2004 after his wife got a nursing job. At the time, there was a shortage of nurses and Christus was recruiting nurses from the Philippines.

Filipinos were recruited because many speak English. It is common to speak multiple languages as there is the national language, Tagalog, the language one speaks at home and English.

Luz Root, nurse, Zumba instructor and Tyler resident, was recruited in 1995 to come to the U.S. Initially she went to Tampa Bay, Florida, then was needed in Texas. She had never heard of Tyler.

“What’s in Tyler?” she recalls thinking.

In 1998, she choreographed and helped put on a cultural show with dances from the Philippines at Caldwell for the 100th year of Philippine independence. Now with three kids and work, she has less time to do that. She is still active in the Filipino community in Tyler and knows the importance of having community.

“They know that there’s a family even though they’re away from their own family,” Root said. They’re adopted with other families. They know that they can call them, they can rely on them if anything happens.”

The first Filipino in Tyler

Dr. Virgil Gonzales, 100, Tyler resident, remembers coming to the U.S by boat. From Manila, Philippines, he arrived in San Francisco where he took a train to St. Louis, Missouri and finally arrived in Dallas.

He came to the region by himself after teaching for almost a year in the Philippines. He graduated in 1951.

After friends encouraged him, he moved from Dallas to Tyler in 1963. At the time, there was only one pathologist in Tyler, he said. He started his own practice and found success.

Now 100 years old, he still enjoys working and thinking about his values in what he does.

“I think about the values of life and the value of generosity,” Gonzales said. “The value of sharing, the value of helping, the value of love and the value of kindness and compassion.”

A growing community

In the 1970s, Gonzales was part of a team recruiting nurses from the Philippines. One of the nurses he recruited also became a recruiter. There were periods of recruitment in the ‘90s and early 2000s as well.

When Tyler resident Phil Caturan came to Tyler 10 years ago from the Philippines, he was a stay-at-home dad while his wife worked as a nurse, who came to the U.S. first after being recruited to work as a nurse. This was an adjustment as he was used to working and being able to travel.

Now Caturan is a pastor at Green Acres Baptist Church. He also organizes Filipino and Friends. Last year, at their Christmas party they had 300 to 400 people RSVP. The turnout was higher than they expected with 724 people attending. This year they are ready for more people to come. The Christmas celebration will be Dec. 1 at Green Acres Baptist Church Crosswalk.

For him, connecting people and helping them is important so they do not feel alone.

“For me, my definition for the American dream is you have a chance to connect with other Filipinos and other cultures,” Caturan said. “Not only that you could help those people, especially those new ones that came here, [and say to] one of them: ‘hey, I understand where you are.’”