FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 3, 2005
CONTACT:
Thang Nguyen, (703) 538-2190, Boat People SOS
Huy Bui, (301) 587-2781, NAVASA
Hung Nguyen, (877) 592-4140, NCVA
VIETNAMESE-AMERICAN GROUPS RECEIVE $200,000 GRANT FROM
FREDDIE MAC TO HELP VIETNAMESE, CAMBODIAN, AND LAO FAMILIES
DISPLACED BY RECENT HURRICANES
Coalition Helps Victims Break Language, Cultural Barriers
and Access Existing Relief Efforts
Falls Church, VA
- Three national Vietnamese-American organizations receive a
$200,000 grant from
Freddie Mac in an effort to break down
cultural and language barriers separating public and private
hurricane relief programs from hundreds of Vietnamese, Cambodian
and Laotian families whose Gulf Coast homes and businesses were
wrecked by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The three groups are the
National Congress of Vietnamese Americans (NCVA),
Boat People
SOS, and the National Alliance of Vietnamese American Service
Agencies (NAVASA).
Freddie Mac’s
$200,000 corporate grant will enable the three
Vietnamese-American groups to provide culturally adept and
language proficient staff to bridge the gap between government
resources and the Asian Americans who speak little or no English
and have no understanding of how to access programs available to
those impacted by the hurricanes. Assistance will help nearly
1000 families find temporary shelter and to apply for federal,
state, local and private aid. In order to address the
rebuilding/reconstruction phase and how to address the
community’s intermediate and long-term housing needs, a critical
assessment of housing needs will be conducted.
“With the Asian
American community’s infrastructure and resources limited
throughout the Katrina storm area, many victims are relying on
APIA community organizations that lack funding for an extended
recovery effort,” said
Congressman Mike Honda, Chair of the
Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. “I want to thank
Freddie Mac for their leadership in providing this grant which
is the first step in providing an adequate response.”
“I applaud
Freddie Mac for the grant they awarded to the National Congress
of Vietnamese Americans (NCVA), Boat People SOS (BPSOS), and the
National Alliance of Vietnamese Americans Service Agencies
(NCVA),” said
Congressman Tom Davis, Chair of the House
Committee on Government Reform. “I know firsthand these three
highly regarded community organizations will work tirelessly to
ensure this grant money helps Vietnamese Americans rebuild their
homes and communities in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and
Rita.”
“The devastation
from Hurricane Katrina is a great challenge for our nation,”
added Congressman Jim Moran, a member on the House Committee on
Appropriations. “We will rebuild the Gulf Coast and bring New
Orleans back as one of this country’s most vibrant, culturally
infused cities. But it will take a collective effort, one in
which people of all races, creeds and ethnicities must pitch in
to help. I am especially concerned about helping state and local
officials house those in need and applaud Freddie Mac for moving
us in the right direction.”
“By working with
these three widely-respected organizations, we can provide an
essential bridge between displaced Asian families and the
hurricane relief efforts
Freddie Mac and other organizations
launched in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita,” said
Dwight Robinson, Freddie Mac’s senior vice president of
corporate relations and housing outreach. “Today’s announcement
further underscores Freddie Mac’s mission to foster financial
stability for America’s lenders, borrowers and communities in
all kinds of weather.”
Robinson added
that the bi-lingual staff the three organizations can now deploy
aim to place 700 Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Lao families in
temporary housing in Bayou La Batre, Alabama and Biloxi,
Mississippi, provide housing assistance to an estimated 250
additional families returning to New Orleans, and help the
Vietnamese community assess its rebuilding needs in areas
affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
“This timely
grant will help us transition from emergency relief to
recovery,” said Dr. Nguyen Dinh Thang, president of Boat People
SOS, Inc. “One of our focuses in the recovery phase is temporary
housing for hurricane victims. Due to language barrier, hundreds
of Vietnamese, Cambodian and Lao families have not been placed
into FEMA-provided trailers. They continue to live in their
damaged residence under absolutely unhealthy conditions.”
“Freddie Mac has
taken great measures within the past months in responding,
initiating and making timely contributions in efforts to aid the
Asian American survivors of Hurricane Katrina and Rita. I
strongly believe that by working together Freddie Mac, Boat
People S.O.S., NCVA and NAVASA will benefit thousands of
displaced survivors,” Huy Vu Bui, Executive Director of NAVASA
stated, “and I hope that this effort will encourage other
corporations with Asian consumers and personnel to give support
to our efforts.”
“The rebuilding
of the devastated Gulf region requires the cooperation of
government, private and public entities. Vietnamese Americans
should have a role in the rebuilding of their homes and
communities,” said
Hung Nguyen, president and CEO of the
National Congress of Vietnamese Americans. “I applaud Freddie
Mac for stepping forward and making this commitment to provide
needed resources to our vulnerable communities. Through their
continuing proactive engagement with the community, Freddie Mac
is helping to make temporary and permanent homes possible for
Americans of diverse backgrounds.”
# # #
About
Freddie Mac
Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owned company established by
Congress in 1970 to support homeownership and rental housing.
Freddie Mac fulfills its mission by purchasing residential
mortgages and mortgage-related securities, which it finances
primarily by issuing mortgage-related securities and debt
instruments in the capital markets. Over the years, Freddie Mac
has made home possible for one in six homebuyers and nearly four
million renters in America.
www.freddiemac.com.
About Boat People
SOS
BPSOS is a national non-profit organization with 25 years of
experience serving Vietnamese refugees and immigrants and a long
track record dealing with humanitarian crises on the high sea,
in refugee camps, and particularly with disaster relief and
recovery in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attack
on the Pentagon. Responding to the hurricanes Katrina and Rita,
BPSOS has mobilized over 100 volunteers and staff from across
the country to serve over 2,000 hurricane-affected families in
Bayou La Batre, AL and Houston.
www.bpsos.org.
About NAVASA
Founded in 1995, NAVASA is a national membership agency
currently comprised of 35 community-based and faith-based
organizations. NAVASA’s mission is to improve social and
economic justice in Vietnamese communities nationwide. To
achieve this mission, NAVASA focuses on three key strategies:
(1) Providing culturally tailored technical assistance and
training; (2) Preparing a new generation of non-profit leaders;
and (3) Increasing financial resources for its member
organizations. www.navasa.org.
About NCVA
Founded in 1986, the National Congress of Vietnamese Americans
is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit community advocacy organization working
to advance the cause of Vietnamese Americans in a plural but
united America * e pluribus unum * by participating actively and
fully as civic minded citizens engaged in the areas of
education, culture and civil liberties.
www.ncvaonline.org.
Other Related
Items:
Back To Top 