Anchorage schools employ a hybrid approach to integrating refugees—neither cordoning them off fully from the school at large, nor dropping them fully into the general student population. The city's Newcomers' Center plays an integral role in giving refugees a sense of community.

At an Ohio supermarket, refugees get a surprising crash course on everything about pharmacies from the system of refills and dosages to how to open those child-proof bottles. With other offerings such as a class field trip so that the skills can be practiced, the goal of the course is to increase confidence and reduce barriers to obtaining care.

Just four years ago, Foster High’s test scores were low and morale lower. But in a dramatic turnaround, achievement now is way up, especially in math, in part due to the new, higher degree of teacher involvement.

In the state of Iowa, refugees come from all over the world and send their children into the public school system. The Des Moines public schools serve many disadvantaged, poverty-stricken children who do not have English language skills. The school district has seen progress by coaching teachers, investing in building renovations, receiving grants for providing students with laptops and iPads, among many other healthy changes to encourage learning.

When immigrant children come to America, they are faced with culture shock, language barriers, and a system of education different from where their original country. Houston’s Las Americas Newcomer School is designed to ease the adjustment of immigrant and refugee children as they enter the American educational system. Las Americas offers competitive wages for teachers, teaching in several different languages, and preparation for the SAT as the school has the highest rate of minority participation.

Immigrants to St. Louis are capitalizing on urban gardens and helping to revitalize the city by repopulating it. The program enrolled 31 refugees and their families who plant food for their own household and to sell them. While the profits aren't huge, the entrepreneurial program offers refugees who may speak little or no English a chance to learn how to operate in the local economy.

For decades, migrant workers in Florida have been employed under dreadful conditions, picking produce without breaks under extreme temperatures and women being sexually harassed. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has demanded that growers increase wages, mandate rest breaks, and prohibit sexual harassment. The Coalition has partnered with big food companies, notably McDonald’s, Yum Brands, and Walmart, which have pledged to buy only from growers who follow these standards.

Currently, the District of Columbia and 10 states, including Maryland, issue limited driving licenses to undocumented workers, with two more set to issue such licenses in the coming months.

The Twilight Education Club is a non-profit working to break down the barriers – transportation, child care and cost – that typically prevent the economically disadvantaged from accessing social services such as language classes. While the Twilight program is specifically geared toward the needs of the parents - getting better jobs and securing greater stability - the long-term focus remains on creating future opportunities for their children.

Half of U.S. farm workers are Hispanic, but few make it to leadership positions. A historically white non-profit, FFA, is creating equal education programs in California to increase leadership opportunities for minorities in agriculture.

Los Angeles has a new model for affordable health care aimed at the 400,000 immigrants in the area without legal status or insurance. But not everyone agrees taxpayer money should fund the program.