Pacific Gateway Center has joined the monthly First Friday festivities and is celebrating one of its success stories this week with "Andy South’s Fashion Journey," tracing the "Project Runway" designer’s road to success, from working on the family farm to showing his work at New York Fashion Week last fall.

The event Friday night at the center’s Lemon Grass Cafe will start at 5 p.m. and feature the designer’s work along with a silent auction of one of his one-of-a-kind creations. Funds raised from the auction and food and beverage sales will go toward the nonprofit center’s mission of helping refugees and immigrants settle into new lives in Hawaii.

South’s participation is his way of saying thank you to an organization that has assisted his family from their arrival in 1975 as Laotian refugees in the aftermath of the Vietnam War to today, helping South find studio space and startup capital for his fashion business.

For more than 35 years, Pacific Gateway Center has aided more than 50,000 immigrants, refugees and low-income individuals. More recently the center launched kitchen and business incubators to help clients with entrepreneurial aspirations to test their ideas and build skills.

Born here in 1986, the designer has only happy memories of the center, where his mother, Nora Sisounthone, worked as a caseworker. "I grew up there, and the staff all remember me as the little boy who followed my mom around," he said. "I was my mom’s tail, helping around the office."

Sisounthone remembers the fear of not knowing what would happen to her when she arrived in this strange place at age 25 with her husband and their 20-month-old son while three months pregnant with a daughter.

"When people approached I was hiding because I didn’t want to be questioned," she said. "Because of language, I didn’t know how to answer."

Sisounthone said it took two years for the family to get settled, and the center was instrumental in helping them find housing, fill out legal documents and register for English classes.

Sisounthone eventually started working with new immigrants at the center before moving on to become a behavioral health case manager for youths and adults at the Susannah Wesley Community Center. Two years ago she rejoined Pacific Gateway Center because her language skills were needed to deal with victims of human trafficking.

"When I see these people, I feel sorry. I feel very attached to them and want to help them. I can understand where they’re coming from, why they’re scared." Sisounthone said. "When I look at them, I remember when I just came and didn’t know what was happening."

Having seen the American dream at work, Sisounthone instilled the belief in her children.

"I always encourage them; always dream high," she said. "Everything is possible. Sometimes you struggle but tomorrow will be better. That’s my attitude."