“Your vision of the future inspires us all to be better and to do better to change our world.” - Frances Hesselbein, Former CEO of Girl Scouts of America and President of Leader to Leader Institute
"We support BPSOS’s efforts to develop leaders who are dedicated to helping their communities at home and the disadvantaged in Vietnam." - East Meets West Foundation
“From disaster relief efforts in the Gulf Coast to leadership development at the national level, BPSOS is making a positive and long-lasting impact on our community." - Kim Delevett
30: Number of workshops, seminars, meetings, which include 18 town hall meetings, 12 workshops, seminars and claims assistance clinics in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
45: Number of volunteer professionals mobilized from around the country, which includes BPSOS attorneys and legal staff, community interpreters, citizen journalists, volunteer attorneys, CPAs and tax professionals
550: Number of individuals directly assisted or served
10,000+: Many thousands more were indirectly assisted via educational radio programs and small media.
100,000+: Pounds of food delivered to residents in need through food bank joint operation with the
BPSOS has “the resources and the people with the language skills to help many of the Vietnamese-Americans here.”
Congressman Joseph Cao, NPR interview on May 27, 2010
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“I applaud the great works of community organizations like Boat People SOS (BPSOS) in assisting the Vietnamese American fishermen and families who need help. Thank you for your inputs and contributions.”
Claims Administrator Kenneth Feinberg at a public meeting on new claims process in New Orleans on August 11, 2010
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“The positive attitude of the staff at the Bayou La Batre office is very impressive. It was clear during my visit that the organization has earned the communities trust.”
Sabrina Brennan, Blogger at ThePelicanEye.com (http://www.thepelicaneye.com/2010/07/boat-people-sos-bayou-la-batre-al.html)
With disaster recover centers and branches established in response to Hurricane Katrina in all three Gulf states – Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, in the days after the BO Oil Spill, BPSOS quickly responded to the man-made crisis, deploying national headquarters staff and volunteers from across the country to support its branch staff in the Gulf Coast in providing emergency assistance to over a thousand Vietnamese families.
Operating in New Orleans for almost a decade, BPSOS expanded operation along the Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana Gulf Coast in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Coordinated out of its regional office in Houston, BPSOS’ emergency response and recovery program has helped many thousand families in the Gulf Coast impacted by the recent series of natural and human-made disasters.
Besides case management and direct service, to facilitate recovery BPSOS has focused on organizing and empowering marginalized immigrant communities, building capacity for grassroots organizations, and partnering with local, regional and national organizations to advocate for equal access to information and services. Over the past five years, BPSOS has offered a dozen grassroots organizations in the Gulf Coast over half a million dollars in sub-grants along with training and technical assistance.
BPSOS has hosted over a dozen town hall meetings and either contributed to or hosted numerous information workshops, health seminars, and “claims” preparation clinics staffed by pro bono lawyers and accounting and other experts.
To keep the large population of nearly 30,000 Vietnamese Americans in the Gulf informed, BPSOS runs a weekly radio talk show in Vietnamese and distributes a monthly bilingual publication, reaching thousands of families from Alabama to Texas.
The BPSOS Bayou La Batre office has become the local community center; the staff offers English language classes, legal clinics and a computer lab with internet access. [Photo Credit: The Pelican Eye Blog]
Article: Oil Spill Troubles Multiply Within Vietnamese Fishing Community (SolveClimate.com)
Until recently, we have distributed over 100,000 lbs of food to more than 4,000 individuals in MS and AL via our food pantry in partnership with Bay Area Food Bank. We have also assisted more than 700 individuals with GCCF claims, food stamps and unemployment benefits.
Residents wait in line at the food pantry [Photo Credit: CNN]
In September BPSOS’ Gulf Coast operation received a big boost through a national partnership with Southwest Airlines, which support allowed BPSOS to not only continue but also expand its operation, bringing much needed expert volunteers, staff, and citizen journalists from around the country to the Gulf region to provide pro bono assistance to and cover stories of struggling families.
A total of 45 staff and volunteers, among them BPSOS attorneys/legal services staff, community interpreters, citizen journalists, volunteer attorneys, CPAs and tax professionals, were mobilized to the region, usually at last minute requests, using travel vouchers provided by Southwest Airlines. A total of 15 additional workshops, seminars, and meetings were made possible or enhanced by Southwest Airlines’ support.
Articles:
Community Media Interviews Fishermen in Biloxi, Mississippi. [Photo Credit: BPSOS]
Dr. Nguyen Dinh Thang at a community town hall meeting in Biloxi, MS. [Photo Credit: BPSOS]
BPSOS Attorneys And CPAs Answered Questions At A Claims Clinic In Bayou La Batre, Alabama [Photo Credit: BPSOS]
Establishment of Gulf Coast Volunteers Program
Many qualified volunteers were recruited, trained and moblized to the region to render direct service or make documentaries to spread public awareness of the issue.
Video: More than 200 people affected by oil spill stand in line for food giveaway (Press Register)
BPSOS Food Drive In Bayou La Batre [Photo Credit: BPSOS]
The organization also organized advocacy trips for local leaders from the three Gulf states to travel to Washington, DC to meet with members of Congress as well as with senior officials in the Departments of Energy, the Interior, Commerce, Homeland Security, and the Council on Environmental Quality to advocate on behalf of their coastal and inland communities.
From Alabama to Texas, groups of fisherfolks came together in a new sense of hope, unity and empowerment to form their own fisherfolks organizations, with the support and technical assistance of BPSOS and National Alliance of Vietnamese American Service Agencies (NAVASA). Local and national staff were mobilized to provide these new organizations training and organizing tools to speak out for their own interests and steer their members forward through the crisis.
On November 15, a delegation of Vietnamese fisherfolks representatives from three Gulf states made their first advocacy trip ever to Washington DC. They met Claims Administrator Ken Feinberg, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, senior officials from FEMA, Department of Health and Human Services, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and various congressional offices to discuss the man-made environmental disaster’s impacts on their communities and get updates on current recovery efforts.
The three fisherfolks organizations participating include the Vietnamese Fisherfolks Association of Alabama, the Vietnamese Fisherfolks Association of Mississippi, and the Fishermen Association of Texas. Their trip was covered extensively by Voice of America and the community media.
The delegation met with Claims Administrator Ken Feinberg at his Washington DC Office. [Photo Credit: VOA]
The delegation met with Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and her senior staff at Department of Labor. [Photo Credit: BPSOS]
Read VOA article in Vietnamese here.
On November 5, 2010, BPSOS-Southwest Airlines partnership was recognized by the National Vietnamese American Chamber of Commerce (VietAmCham) with its 2010 Award for Outstanding Business-Non-profit Partnership, which recognizes an innovative and effective partnership between a corporation and a community organization to address urgent community needs or complex social issues. Presented at VietAmCham 2010 Annual Dinner Banquet, this award specifically promotes community collaboration and corporate citizenship.
“As a Gulf Coast corporate partner of BPSOS, Southwest Airlines made valuable contributions to launch BPSOS's Gulf Coast Oil Spill Volunteer Program by providing a large number of its best travel vouchers to BPSOS staff, volunteers, and partners to assist and advocate for affected communities in AL, LA, MS, and TX. Altogether, the program has brought numerous groups of volunteer professionals and experts to the region to organize health and legal clinics, provide claims assistance, operate food drives, and document the struggle of community members, among many other tasks.”
Moving forward, BPSOS has since engaged actively in grassroots advocacy, community organizing and development for local communities in the Gulf Coast to develop long-term sustainability capacity, final claim assistance, public education, and community health.
