• Testimony before the Oil Spill Commission: BPSOS Gulf Coast Regional Director Grace Scire recently met with two members of the presidential Oil Spill Commission in Mobile, Alabama regarding the Oil Spill’s economic impacts on the Vietnamese American community. Invited to testify at the Commission’s first meeting in New Orleans, Ms. Scire highlighted challenges and issues local fishermen and families experience with respect to BP claims, VOO program, OSHA training, transparency in process, language access, and the lack of resources on the ground to respond to the crisis. The panel discussion was televised live via C-Span.
• Video: BPSOS addresses the Oil Spill Commission at its first meeting in New Orleans (CSPAN)

• Providing Direct Assistance: Through our offices in New Orleans, Biloxi and Bayou La Batre, BPSOS continues to assist community residents on various services ranging from food stamp applications, unemployment benefits, BP claims, Vessels of Opportunity, immigrations, general translation and interpretation, Medicaid, Social Security Incomes and healthcare.

• General Health/Mental Health Advocacy: BPSOS regional staff also attended the meeting with the Surgeon General, Dr. Regina Benjamin, Assistant Surgeon General James M. Galloway, and SAMHSA administrator in Mobile, Alabama and Gulfport, Mississippi respectively. Joining other elected officials and mental health professionals, Ms. Scire and Danny Le, BPSOS Biloxi/Bayou La Batre Branch Manager, spoke about the psychological impacts of the Oil Spill on Vietnamese fishermen and their families.

• New Claim Process: On Friday, July 16, BPSOS met with Mr. Kenneth Feinberg, Claim Administrator to learn about and discuss further the new claim process and eligibility requirements.

• Food Distribution in Alabama: BPSOS BLB distributed another 13,000 lbs of food to 265 families on July 8, 2010. So far, we have distributed a total of 36,000 lbs of food to affected families in Alabama. Department of Agriculture Under-Secretary Kevin Cannon recently visited the food bank and was impressed with how the community has been helping itself throughout the crisis.
• Video: BPSOS distributes food in Alabama (WKRG News)

WKRG.com News

• Resources and Claims Fair in Biloxi: Our BPSOS-NAVASA joint staff recently participated in the “Oil Spill Resources and Claims Fair” at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum, Biloxi on July 8, 2010 from 12pm to 8pm. Over 30 agency booths, including BP, state and federal agencies, and community organizations, participated. In total, the Fair served 548 individuals, 187 of whom were Vietnamese Americans.

• Clean-up Job Training: BPSOS also sent staff to attend OSHA’s “Train the Trainer” this week. The trained staff will then be able to provide training to Vietnamese individuals who are interested in working under BP’s VOO program and other oil clean up jobs.

• Connecting Stakeholders and Bridging the Communication Gap: Our regional and national staffs continue to participate in weekly teleconferences with various local, state and federal governments to obtain updates on programs, development and resources available for affected population. We have also made arrangements for government studies of or media interviews with affected communities, as well as charity groups coming to the region.

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Founded in 1980, BPSOS is a national community organization operating at 18 locations across the United States. BPSOS empowers individuals, strengthens families, and builds communities through Direct Services, Advocacy, Media, Community Development and Organizing, and Research. For more information, please see www.bpsos.org.

Press Contact: Shandon Phan | 703-647-6462 | Địa chỉ email này đã được bảo vệ từ spam bots, bạn cần kích hoạt Javascript để xem nó.

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