Background

Since Monday, August 29, more than 15,000 Vietnamese-American evacuees have arrived in the Houston area and over 250 families in Bayou La Batre have been left homeless.

Over Labor Day weekend, BPSOS began providing direct relief aid to the 15,000 Vietnamese evacuees from the New Orleans area at our Houston branch office. With limited staff and many community volunteers, BPSOS and local partners provided immediate counseling support and connected hundreds of evacuees with public services.

In response to requests for assistance from over 250 families (mainly Vietnamese but also Cambodian and Lao), BPSOS opened an emergency office in Bayou La Batre AL on October 4. This community is comprised of many recent arrivals to the US, most with limited English skills, and a limited understanding of the US legal and social system. They have been very slow to access federal assistance due to language barriers and fears of the system. BPSOS is working in collaboration with local faith-based organizations and community groups to reproduce the success of our work in Houston.

Like other victims of the hurricanes, the Vietnamese have lost their lives, their loved ones, their homes, jobs and possessions, as well as their entire community support system, but they face far greater challenges. Vietnamese hurricane victims remain largely out of reach of federal, state, and local governments as well as mainstream charitable organizations because of language and cultural barriers.

Not only is it a largely low-English proficient (LEP) group, this evacuee population is encountering a host of related issues that will require special assistance. Many LEP hurricane victims lack the know-how to resolve even simple problems, such as replacing a defective food stamp debit card, cashing a cashier's check, or understanding FEMA's request for additional information, let alone accessing mainstream services. Without the support of service providers, these evacuees are at risk of falling prey to individuals who charge service fees up of to 35% for benefits recovered.