by Tina Ho

When I first approached Phong Duong, a case manager with the BPSOS’ Disaster Case Management Program, for a success story on one of his clients, almost instantaneously he said to me, “I got a good one for you. You’ll love her – she’s a terrific lady who went through a lot.”

Ms. D is a middle-aged woman who lives by herself with a disability. Her mobility is limited and she walks with a cane. A former registered nurse, Ms. D had to abruptly end her nursing career after an incident which caused her severe back pain. Aside from her aggravated back, Ms. D also lives with diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart problems.

by Annie Trinh

This past August, BPSOS and Houston Independent School District (HISD) hosted its first annual Community Back-to-School Fair for families on the Southeast side of Houston on August 14th, 2010. The fair was held in Southeast Houston in response to the needs of underserved Vietnamese families who face many cultural, linguistic, education and transportation barriers to information and services.

by Michelle Nguyen

Philadelphia, PA – BPSOS, a Vietnamese American non-profit organization serving the Greater Philadelphia region, welcomes the news that the U.S. Department of Justice has found merit to Asian students’ complaints alleging that they were frequently abused and not given proper protection at South Philadelphia High School.

“We are grateful that the Department of Justice recognized the pattern of abuse and violence at South Philadelphia High School. We consider this a step in the right direction for our students,” said Nancy Nguyen, Delaware Valley branch manager of BPSOS. “We hope that the district will take the DOJ merit finding seriously by enacting broad, systemic reforms to improve the school climate and embracing strong collaboration with community organizations.”

by Tina Ho

By Amy Nguyen

For many, summer has traditionally signified a season for traveling, celebrating and family gatherings. In the nearly two years since Hurricane Ike, however, many of these pastimes have been curtailed, thanks to a difficult economy, and priorities for many to rebuild their lives after the storm.

“Many in our community have faced extraordinary challenges in the two years since Hurricane Ike, from repairing their homes and supplementing their incomes, to prioritizing their health and securing employment,” said An-Phong Vo, BPSOS Disaster Case Management Program (DCMP) Director. “With school out for the summer, we decided to boost up our efforts to alleviate households and provide direct services to families.”

Falls Church, Virginia - Boat People S.O.S., Inc. (BPSOS) today announces the formation of an Oil Spill Response Fund to assist victims of the Gulf Coast oil spill, especially the large population of Vietnamese Americans living in the area. The Fund supports community outreach and education on the latest developments and access to services. In addition, the Fund facilitates coordination among stakeholders and finances advocacy efforts on behalf of affected communities. BPSOS accepts donations from all interested parties on our web site www.bpsos.org and all contributions are tax-exempt.

Falls Church, Virginia – BPSOS is providing new services to assist victims of the Gulf Coast oil spill, especially the large population of Vietnamese Americans living in the area. “As a community organization working on the ground, BPSOS is focusing our resources to meet the urgent needs of the affected families in the Gulf Coast region,” said Dr. Nguyen Dinh Thang, Executive Director of BPSOS.

Falls Church, Virginia - BPSOS welcomes the United States Department of State’s release of its 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP) today. For the first time since 2004, Vietnam has been downgraded from “Tier 2” to “Tier 2 Watch List.”

As a member of the Coalition to Abolish Modern-day Slavery in Asia (CAMSA), BPSOS has worked to expose Vietnam’s role in labor trafficking by utilizing a comprehensive strategy of gathering solid labor trafficking cases in surrounding destination countries and using them for advocacy and public awareness campaigns. According to the TIP report, “[Vietnam] did not show evidence of progress in criminally prosecuting and criminally punishing labor trafficking offenders and protecting victims of all forms of trafficking, particularly victims of labor trafficking and internal trafficking; therefore, Vietnam is placed on Tier 2 Watch List.” The report also highlights the practice of Contract Fraud and Contract Switching, by featuring a sample contract from a current BPSOS case. This practice is often used by state-licensed Vietnamese labor export companies where workers are given two different contracts to sign: one in Vietnamese and one in a different language with different and less favorable terms. These contracts also often include provisions that violate basic human rights, such as barring workers from joining trade unions in the destination country or getting pregnant or married to locals during their employment.

For Immediate Release: June 7, 2010 Contact: Shandon Phan, 703-647-6462 | shandon.phan@bpsos.org

“I am both honored and humbled to receive this award from one of the oldest APA civil rights organizations,” said Dr. Thang. “Our two organizations share many common core values and goals and I look forward to strengthening our partnership to new heights in the coming years.”

ONLY 1 WEEK LEFT TO APPLY FOR FALL 2010 SCHOLARSHIPS

HSF still has a limited number of $5,000 scholarships, BUT applications must be submitted by June 18, 2010.

Please Hurry!

Greetings from the Hispanic Scholarship Fund,

HSF still has a limited number of $5,000 scholarships funded by Mass Mutual that we want to make available to students in the Houston and San Antonio Metro Areas. Counties for Houston Include: Brazoria, Fort Bend, Harris, Hardin, Jefferson and Orange. Counties for San Antonio include: Bexar, Cormal, Guadalupe and Wilson. Students who either reside AND/OR attend school in these counties are eligible to apply. The scholarship is open to individuals of Hispanic, African American and Asian Pacific Island heritage; who are rising sophomores, juniors, seniors and 5th year seniors.