December 2012

Dear good friends,

As 2012 comes to a close, we look back and witness a year full of activity, of testing out new methods of work, of ambitious goals, of loss, but also of hope. We invested in re-grounding our culture & history through bringing Exit Saigon to Philadelphia for the first time; in youth leadership and social justice, through AYEPwhere we saw our largest group ever!; and in civic engagement, through CIVIC & Viet Vote. We invested in our own communitys wisdom on health and wellness through the Southeast Asian Roots Farm, where elders and youth worked together, many for the first time. We remember those folks in our family such as Michelle, Melissa, Candice and Thu who have moved on to exciting projects and programs of their own and we welcome new folks: Quynh and Linh. With that, we saw a huge increase in volunteers as well as new board members, and for this we are thankful. We are building our community up while building out our base. Such an exciting year! The Vietnamese community in Philadelphia holds so much promise, and our work strives to encourage working together to create a more just and dignified future for all communities. That is the task in our hands. Onward, Nancy Nguyen BPSOS-Delaware Valley Branch Manager

Upcoming Events
Classes
Philadelphia: - English Class (Beings Jan. 7) M/W @ 5-7 pm - Vietnamese Language Class (Begins Jan. 8) T/THU @ 3:30-5 pm - Citizenship Class (Begins Jan. 8) T/ THU @ 5:30-7:30pm New Jersey: - English Class (Begins Jan. 7) M/W @ 5:30-7:30 pm - Citizenship Class (Begins Jan. 7) M/W @ 5:30-7:30 pm

(All events and classes are held at the BPSOS office)

Workshops
Philadelphia: - LiHEAP (Jan. 16) Low-income home energy assistance program - FASFA (Feb. 2) Apply for your students financial aid - Tax Preparation (March 6) How to fill out your taxes

Movies
Philadelphia: - Mr. Cao Goes to Washington (March 29) @ 6-8 pm - A Village Called Versailles ( June 28) @ 6-8 pm - Enforcing the Silence (Sept. 27) @ 6-8 pm

Viet Vote
Philly Viet Vote is a citywide voter mobilization campaign launched by BPSOS-Delaware Valley. The purpose of this project is to encourage and mobilize more Vietnamese Americans, and Asian Americans as a whole, to register to vote and practice their rights as citizens. across Pennsylvania to register to vote and let their voices be heard. Any API organization can sign up to compete.

Moon Festival

The organization with the highest number of voter registrations will win a price of its choice valued at $500. We hope that by doing this, our API community will have a higher Also, in an effort to spread this voter turnout in this 2012 presidential message, we have started the Asian Pa- election. cific Islander (API) Collegiate Race to target 18-25 years old API students

API Collegiate Race to Vote

Congratulations to the fraternity Delta Chi Psi of Temple University for winning the API Collegiate Race to the Vote, a competition between four different student groups from around the city to collect voter registration forms for the API (Asian and Pacific Islander) community. Other participating groups included the Asian Student Association of Temple University (TUASA), the Pan-Asian Initiative of the University of Pennsylvania, and the Asian Pacific American Caucus of Pennsylvania State University Between these four groups, over 100 voter registration forms were collected!

Our Annual Moon Festival was a huge success! With a youth committee 20 folks deep, and nearly 50 youth and adult volunteers, we were able to bring out our Mayor, members of the Freeholder Board, and hundreds of family members to have a great time. Everyone had a fun night with plenty of games, food, and performances such as dragon dancing, singing, and breakdancing. Our raffle brought in over $1100 raised towards youth programs. We thank our sponsorsespecially Confident Day Care, Horizon Total Blue Cross Blue Shield, Diem Chau Pharmacy for being our biggest sponsors of the night! Check out our BPSOS-Delaware Valley Facebook Page for photos of the event, and we hope you decide to join us next year!

Community & Connections: Tazia

Laughter and conversation was flowing on October 5th as BPSOS hosted a Community & Connections event at Tazia restaurant located near Chinatown in Philadelphia. For those who attended, it was a chance to socialize and talk to new BPSOS supporters or to catch up with friends they have not seen in a while with delicious food and exciting karaoke. The fun lasted well into the evening. Undoubtedly, everyone left Tazia looking forward to the next time a BPSOS Community & Connections event took place. Congratulations to Quynh for winning the raffle prize of the night!

Bao Phi: Award Winning Spoken Word Artist

On October 19th, BPSOS collaborated with Temple Universitys Asian Student Association, the Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia, and One Love Movement to host Lyrical & Loud!, an evening devoted to voter mobilization and empowerment held on the campus of Temple University. The event stressed the importance for the API
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community to get politically involved, had two local representatives from the Democratic and Republican parties part take in a mini-debate, and a speaker from One Love Movement. The showcase closed with one of America's most renowned Asian-American spoken word artists, Bao Phi, who performed various pieces from his new book, Sng I Sing.

Citizenship Initiative in Vietnamese Immigrant Communities (CIVIC) Program

The goal of our CIVIC program is to provide Legal Permanent Residents of the communities we serve an opportunity to fully integrate into American society by becoming naturalized U.S. citizens. We use culturally competent instructional methods to equip individuals with the tools they need to complete the naturalization process. Also, while our core competency is serving the Vietnamese population, all LPRs are welcome to attend our classes and benefit from the program. Our curriculum consists of two courses: Basic ESOL for ESOL Citizenship and Standard ESOL for Citizenship to address the different levels of proficiency. Basic ESOL Citizenship will focus on building the foundation to understand the words and phrases found in the U.S. naturalization process. Students in the Standard ESOL for Citizenship will be prepared for the U.S. naturalization process through the introduction of the 100 civic questions, the application for naturalization (N-400) and mock interviews.

A great number of immigrants in the area require additional help to improve their English reading, writing, speaking and listening skills.

Health Awareness And Promotion (HAPP) Program

In Camden County, New Jersey, BPSOS continues to promote community health and awareness in the Vietnamese-American community by hosting monthly cancer screening and workshops, in partnership with Cooper Hospital. In addition, we are working with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to increase knowledge of various cancers, including breast, cervical, lung, and prostate. The CDC is also assisting BPSOS with disseminating information on the causes, risks, and treatment of liver cancer. Data have shown that Vietnamese women have the highest rates of cervical cancer among all ethnic and racial groups in the United States. The rate of cervical cancer screenings for this group of women is decidedly low; culturally appropriate and easily accessible interventions to encourage Pap test receipt are of prime importance. Our health program focuses to promote community health and awareness in the Camden County Vietnamese community; we hope to expand our work to members in Philadelphia in 2013. Health staff members recently completed 40 hours of Professional Medical Interpreter Training, Bridging the Gap, through Nationalities Service Center in an effort to continually keep BPSOS updated and informed.

Vietnamese Youth Loss of Life Prompts Community to Organize To End Bias Violence And Homophobia
David Phan's untimely death on Nov. 29th, prompts API and Vietnamese community in Taylorsville, Utah, and around the Nation to act. School officials blamed David, even though he was dealing with chronic bullying and bias harassment in the school. Stories coming out from friends and supporters point to homophobia and bias violence as cause. BPSOS sends our support to the family. Please stay tuned for more.

SDP Massive School Prompts Questions And Concerns

In mid-Dec, the School District released a list of 39 schools to close across Philadelphia, including many that serve immigrant and limited English proficient students. BPSOS is setting up a meeting with school district officials to answer questions from parents in early January. If you are interested in joining, please call 215-334-1500 to RSVP.
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VIYO in Philadelphia
BPSOS works with Asian Americans United, Victims Witness Services of South Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Student Union to form the School Safety Collaborative (SSC), a coalition of Chinese, Vietnamese, and English-speaking students who congregate to plan and strategize ways to improve school safety. The Vietnamese youth group BPSOS works with calls bias-harassment. VIYO this year plans themselves the Vietnamese Immigrant to create a multi-media project around Youth Organization (VIYO), a collective of 15-20 Vietnamese-American and immi- the lives of Vietnamese students. grant students who work together to empower one another to speak up about social justice and to build a stronger Vietnamese community in South Philadelphia High School and the Greater Philadelphia region. They aim to promote school safety for all students and to address issues of

Youth Work in South Jersey

B-Cubed Re-Up & Afterschool Project Opens The Community Planning & Advocacy Council (CPAC) evaluated a total of 43 applications, including that of BPSOS, for the 2012 Camden County Human Services Grant Funds. The Camden County Freeholders happily announced BPSOS-Delaware Valley as the recipient of a grant in the amount of $11,000 for our Asian Youth Empowerment Program to continue our Youth Leadership Development work for 2012-2013! We are excited to be able to continue to build on our Youth Leadership Projects (BPSOS Basement Breakers) and our Afterschool Homework Support Project!

Move to End Violence Convening 6: Building Movement 2012

Nancy Nguyen, recently was promoted as the National Communities Against Domestic Violence Program Manager, a national position that will be managing and developing our integral anti-violence program in five different states. As a part of this work, she joined 150 leaders, strategists, and movementmakers from across the country to discuss the state of the womens movement in the US and what challenges lie ahead. We are so proud of her!

Advancing Justice Conference

For more information please see: www.movetoendviolence.org

Holiday Fundraiser At Ten Thousand Villages

Shoppers hit the streets again for another busy season. Thank you to all the folks who came by Ten Thousand Villages on 11/18 to support Fair Trade goods and BPSOS programming! We were able to raise ~$450 towards our programs for 2013!
In between customers, I had talks with

members of the staff which kept me entertained through the hours. The energy was very hospitable and amicable . says Kenny, an active volunteer.
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Linh Pham, the Program Coordinator for the CIVIC program attended the 2012 Advancing Justice Conference: Communities on the Rise in Chicago, IL on September 27th, 2012. Community mobilizers, academics, and direct service providers from around the US convened to discuss important issues related to the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. The forum especially addressed growth of minority communities in both in literal numbers and activism in the United States and how that affects the landscape of the American public. Keynote speakers, including, civil rights activist Ai-jen Poo and Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, were there to speak at length about common challenges and ways to work collaboratively on issues in the AAPI communities.

BPSOS National Updates

Communities Against Domestic Violence And Human Trafficking
We mobilize all sectors in the Vietnamese American communities across the United States to systematically raise public awareness, rescue and protect victims, promote and assist law enforcement, and advocate for appropriate policies with the ultimate goal of ending domestic violence and human trafficking.

Strong Survivors of Violence and Exploitation

Through our national survivor services program, we provide direct assistance, including case management and legal representation for immigrant victims of domestic violence and human trafficking. The program team also conducts outreach to the community, service providers, and law enforcement to increase awareness of and provide education on these subjects.

How You Can Support Us Wish List

BPSOS's humanitarian and community development is made possible by generous donors from the community. We are always in need of a helping hand to continue our services and benefit others. The following is a list of items that we currently need. All donations are taxdeductible. To donate, contact us (BPSOS-Delaware Valley) at 215-334-1500 or email us at philly@bpsos.org.

Office Info
Philadelphia Office 600 Washington Ave., Suite 18U-A Philadelphia, PA 19147 Office: 215-334-1500 New Jersey Office 5043 Westfield Ave., Suite A Pennsauken, NJ 08110 Office: 856-486-7770 E-mail: Camden@bpsos.org

Office:
- Computers - New Desktops for staff - Laptops for Computer Class (can be used and/or old) - New Office Desk (Philadelphia Office) - Shredder - 3 New Phones: Cisco IP Phone

Kitchen:
- Refrigerator - Snacks for After School Children (New Jersey Office)

Become a Volunteer or Intern

Our organization can not do all of our various projects without the support of our volunteers and interns who bring their energy and passion to the organization. We have many different positions open that will fit your skill set: teaching, mentoring, writing, social media, project support, and more! Check our website for details at bpsos.org!

Fundraiser:
- Event Hall Spaces - Gift Cards - New In-box Items for Raffles

Stay in touch!
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bpsosdelval to stay updated on all of the latest news on BPSOS throughout the year.

P LEASE S CAN T HE Q R C ODE WITH Y OUR S MART P HONE AND V ISIT O UR W EBSITE T O LEARN MORE A BOUT O UR O RGANIZATION!
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We thank the following sponsors for their generous support

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