The Martinca siblings are losing America as their home on June 21, 2021. Adrian and Miriam Martinca could be poster children for the American Dream. They moved to the United States with their family 14 years ago. Miriam completed her bachelor’s degree at UNC-Chapel Hill and became the first person in the family to get a college degree. Adrian started a successful computer company and a charity that provides laptops to children and schools. In fact, their charity Technology for the Future donated over 10,000 laptops to children in 2020 alone.
“My brother and I were two weeks late renewing our i94,” Miriam explains. “Our i94 expired May 3, during which time we were in the midst of a ‘crisis response,’ delivering 350 devices for children in time for state testing on May 10. This meant that our own due date was overlooked.” Their visas that were valid until 2023 are now canceled. The siblings have set a goal to get 300,000 signatures to challenge America to OPEN Doors back up for them and “uncancel” their visas. This family who has given so much to so many children is asking for help. “The petition is our only hope,” says Miriam.
The family immigrated from Slovakia to Canada, with aspirations to make America their home. “Technology was the key to victory in protecting my family’s freedom to access opportunities we needed to survive,” Adrian says. Soon, he started his own for-purpose tech company A.M.-Technologies to help other families and businesses do the same. “Our parents taught us that victory is only real when it is shared by all people.”
In 2016, Adrian founded Technology for the Future as a “philanthropic arm” to his company. It serves as a crisis response system across America for students and organizations that do not have access to technology. Adrian says, “If you have the key, it’s up to you to open doors for others.” The Martinca family saw a doorway to the world of opportunities through technology. In March 2019, they challenged students to envision their dreams through technology and held an event at the Greensboro Coliseum to celebrate 650 students’ dreams and to equip them with a free laptop.
During the pandemic, hundreds of schools across the country requested their help. Adrian and Miriam rallied an effort that donated 10,000 computers to Guilford County children alone, and thousands more across the United States. They sourced computers from all over the world for American children.
They now challenge American families to come together and OPEN Doors by signing and sharing their petition. Go to opendoorschallenge.org.
