NCVA REPORTER - November 30, 2004

In this NCVA Reporter:

Events

• 2004 Northern Virginia Conference on Nonprofit Management – Dec 3-4, 2004
• VNHELP Participates in Holiday Peace Fair – Dec 4, 2004

Funding Opportunities

• CDC Grant for Drunk Driving Intervention
• Support for Relatives Acting as Parents
• Funds Address Poverty and Disenfranchisement
• Funds to Help Underserved Children and Families
• Support for Environment, Human Needs, Arts, and Education
• Funds for Civil Society, the Environment, and Ending Poverty
• Partnership for a Nation of Learners
• National Youth Court Center Mini-Grants
• Johnson & Johnson/Rosalynn Carter Institute Caregivers Program Announces $100,000 Hurricane Relief Fund

Jobs/Internships

• 2005-2006 Postdoctoral/Visiting Scholar Fellowship Program in Ethnic Studies at UCLA
• Wellstone Fellowship for Social Justice
• Chief Executive Officer - Sacramento Region Community Foundation (California)

Tips/Resources

• Getting Committed Support to Promote an Organization
• Making Health Communication Programs Work: A Planner's Guide
• Communicating Health: Priorities and Strategies for Progress

News

• The Le-Tran Family (Washington Post)
• Culture Center Still a Vision Without a Site (Los Angeles Times)
• Winning At All Costs (Houston Chronicle)
• For Some Minorities, Business Success is Relative (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
• Following lead of ex-columnist isn't way to go (Mercury News)
• Vietnamese Community Repays Kindness by Aiding the Homeless (Los Angeles Times)

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EVENTS

2004 NORTHERN VIRGINIA CONFERENCE ON NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT

”Synergy In Our Sector”

Friday & Saturday, December 3-4, 2004

Fairfax County Government Center
12000 Government Center Parkway
Fairfax, VA 22035

“Synergy In Our Sector” is the theme for this year’s conference featuring nearly 30 outstanding workshops, numerous exhibitors providing a wide array of products and services, and peer exchange groups. . . all designed to help nonprofit organizations throughout the Northern Virginia region improve the quality of the services they provide. The conference will engage hundreds of nonprofit board members, executive directors, program managers, and other key staff members by focusing on management issues related to:

• Advocacy
• Board Governance
• Communications
• Evaluation
• Financial Management
• Fundraising
• Human Resources
• Leadership
• Nonprofit Law
• Research
• Service Delivery
• Small/All Volunteer Nonprofits
• Volunteer Management

The 2004 Northern Virginia Conference on Nonprofit Management builds upon the Conference for Community-Based Nonprofit Management: Best Practices for Continual Improvement conducted by the Fairfax County Department of Housing and Community Development in March 2003. As a result of the successful 2003 conference, the County and other public and private sector organizations joined together to collaborate on the 2004 Northern Virginia Conference for Nonprofit Management. This year’s conference expands the geographic reach of participants throughout Northern Virginia and includes a broader range of faith-based, community-based, and other nonprofit organizations.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to ...
• Learn what other organizations are doing to get results.
• Discover ways to improve management effectiveness within your organization.
• Meet professionals with experience in implementing organizational change.

Conference Organizers
Annandale Christian Community for Action
Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network
Business Development Assistance Group
Clifton Gunderson LLP
Fairfax County Government
George Mason University Nonprofit Studies Program
Korean Community Service Center
Virginia Tech’s Nonprofit Excellence Initiative
Volunteer Fairfax
Washington Council of Agencies

For additional information, contact Harriet West, Clifton Gunderson at 301-931-2050 Ext. 766 or email to Harriet.West@cliftoncpa.com.

(www.nvcbo.org)

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VNHELP will participates in The 22nd Annual Holiday Peace Fair Saturday, December 04, 2004, 11:00AM - 4:00PM

At the First United Methodist Church of Campbell
1675 Winchester Blvd., Campbell, CA

Features:
* Live Music and Dance (multicultural entertainment)
* Food and Drinks (lunch and desserts)
* Children's Activities (games, face painting and crafts)
* Gifts and Handicrafts (non-violent, no-war items)

Presented by:
Women's International League for Peace & Freedom, San Jose Peace Center, and participating organizations

Admission: $1 donation, includes prizes. Free admission for kids.

Each participating organization will have a table to display their organization's materials and to sell art and craft items. This is a great opportunity for VNHELP to reach out to the community in the South Bay. VNHELP is accepting donations in kind to be sold at the Holiday Peace Fair. Please donate any art and craft items or sellable merchandise you may have with value from $1 to $100. Your donation is tax-deductible, and the proceed will go to VNHELP humanitarian projects.

Please contact VNHELP (408) 885-1791 if you like to donate (or email info@vnhelp.org), and please come to the fair to meet our student volunteers.

Thank you for your support.

(http://vnhelp.org)

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FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

CDC GRANT FOR DRUNK DRIVING INTERVENTION

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are offering a $350,000 grant for community-based DUI interventions.

Nonprofit and public organizations are eligible for the award, which focuses on the evaluation of interventions that reduce death and injury resulting from alcohol-impaired driving.

Deadline for a letter of intent is Dec. 20; the full application deadline is Feb. 7. For more information, visit the full CDC announcement online or call 770-488-2700.

(http://www.cdc.gov/od/pgo/funding/05024.htm)

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SUPPORT FOR RELATIVES ACTING AS PARENTS

Brookdale Foundation Group: Relatives as Parents Program

The Brookdale Relatives as Parents Program is designed to encourage and promote the creation or expansion of services for grandparents and other relatives who have taken on the responsibility of surrogate parenting, due to the unwillingness or inability of parents to care for their own children. The program awards seed grants of $10,000 over two years to local nonprofit agencies and public state agencies throughout the U.S. The Local Initiative supports the development and expansion of local agencies that provide support groups and other supportive services to relative caregivers and the children in their care, while the Statewide Initiative supports public state agencies in selected states that can generate new relative caregiver activities, locally and statewide. The application deadline for the Local Initiative is January 13, 2005 and the deadline for the statewide initiative is February 10, 2005.

(http://www.brookdalefoundation.org/)

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FUNDS ADDRESS POVERTY AND DISENFRANCHISEMENT

Jewish Fund for Justice

The purpose of the Jewish Fund for Justice (JFJ) is to support nonprofit organizations working to alleviate the root causes of poverty and the disenfranchisement of low-income people. JFJ supports community-based organizing and advocacy that promotes leadership development and builds community self-sufficiency to strengthen the impact of low-income people in the public debate on issues affecting their lives. Areas of interest include economic justice, women in poverty, building community, investing in youth, assisting new Americans, and engaging Jews in social justice. Groups working in the metropolitan areas of Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, DC and in the states of Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas are eligible to apply. Support is provided for organizations throughout the country that focus on engaging Jews in social justice. Letters of inquiry are accepted year-round.

(http://www.jfjustice.org/)

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FUNDS TO HELP UNDERSERVED CHILDREN AND FAMILIES

Tiger Woods Foundation

The Tiger Woods Foundation focuses on providing opportunities to children and families who are underserved. The Foundation primarily funds nonprofit organizations, programs and projects that are based in urban American cities. Areas of interest include education, youth development, parenting, and family health and welfare. The next application deadline is February 1, 2005.

(http://www.twfound.org/)

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SUPPORT FOR ENVIRONMENT, HUMAN NEEDS, ARTS, AND EDUCATION

Tom's of Maine Corporate Giving Program

The Tom's of Maine Corporate Giving Program provides support for nonprofit organizations nationally and internationally, with priority given to organizations impacting Maine. The company's areas of interest are the environment, human needs, the arts, and education. Support is provided for programs and projects that integrate at least two of the areas of interest. Proposals will be accepted between February 1 and April 1, 2005.

(http://www.tomsofmaine.com/about/grant_guidelines.asp)

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FUNDS FOR CIVIL SOCIETY, THE ENVIRONMENT, AND ENDING POVERTY

Charles Stewart Mott Foundation

The mission of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation is to support efforts that promote a just, equitable, and sustainable society. The Foundation's grant programs focus on the following areas: poverty, civil society, the environment, and Flint, MI. Support is provided to nonprofit organizations with regional, national or international scope and local nonprofit organizations in Flint, MI. Geographic focus varies by program area. Applications are accepted throughout the year.

(http://www.mott.org/)

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PARTNERSHIP FOR A NATION OF LEARNERS

The Partnership for a Nation of Learners Community Collaborative Grant Program is intended to strengthen the ability of museums, libraries, and public broadcasting licensees to work together to help audiences gain knowledge, skills, attitudes, behaviors, and resources that enhance their engagement in community, work, family, and society. The application deadlines are March 1, 2005 and March 1, 2006.

(http://www.partnershipforlearners.org/)

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NATIONAL YOUTH COURT CENTER MINI-GRANTS

The National Youth Court Center will award mini-grants to provide youth court programs with funds to conduct a service project in support of National Youth Service Day 2005 in April. Fifteen of the mini-grants have been designated to fund projects that are related to traffic safety issues (including underage drinking). The additional 45 mini-grants will be awarded for any project that meets a community need. The application deadline is December 31, 2004.

(http://www.youthcourt.net/)

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JOHNSON & JOHNSON/ROSALYNN CARTER INSTITUTE CAREGIVERS PROGRAM ANNOUNCES $100,000 HURRICANE RELIEF FUND

The Johnson & Johnson/Rosalynn Carter Institute Caregiviers Program has announced the availability of grants to address family caregiving needs stemming from the hurricanes of 2004. These funds are limited and proposals for funding will be considered as they are received. The total amount available for award is $100,000 and grant awards will range from $1,000 to $10,000. The final deadline for submitting funding requests is February 1, 2005.

(http://www.rosalynncarter.org/jjhurricanerelief.html)

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JOBS/INTERNSHIPS

2005-2006 POSTDOCTORAL/VISITING SCHOLAR FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM IN ETHNIC STUDIES AT UCLA

The UCLA Institute of American Cultures (IAC), in cooperation with UCLA's four Ethnic Studies Research Centers - American Indian Studies Center, Asian American Studies Center, Bunche Center for African American Studies, and Chicano Studies Research Center - offers fellowships to postdoctoral scholars in support of research about these groups. The fellowship includes a stipend (which can be used as a sabbatical supplement) that ranges from $30,000 to $35,000, research support of up to $4,000, and health benefits. Generally, appointments are for a 9-month period beginning September 1 or October 1. For 2005-2006, the IAC will offer one or two fellowships that focus on intergroup or comparative research on two or more of these communities in a local, national, or global context. The acceptance of a fellowship carries with it the commitment to make a contribution to the research activities of the sponsoring Ethnic Studies Research Center. In some cases, Fellows/Scholars will also teach a 10-week seminar based on their research.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS: Fellows/Scholars must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents and hold a Ph.D. from an accredited college or university at the time of appointment. UCLA faculty, staff, and currently enrolled students are not eligible to apply.

Completed applications are due by January 14, 2005.

Recipients will be notified in early April.
NOTE: Offer of Fellowship is contingent upon funding availability.

For further information and applications, please go to the Institute's website: http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu/iacweb/iachome.htm.

You can also contact the IAC Coordinator at the Institute of American Cultures, 1237 Murphy Hall, (310) 825-1233, or email: IACcoordinator@gdnet.ucla.edu

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WELLSTONE FELLOWSHIP FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE

The deadline is Jan. 7 for the Wellstone Fellowship for Social Justice. The fellowship is sponsored by Families USA in honor of late Sen. Paul Wellstone of Minn., and is designed to "expand the pool of talented social-justice advocates from underrepresented racial and ethnic minority groups," in order to achieve fair and better quality health care, according to the organization's website.

The grant is available to anyone interested in health care and assisting communities of color. The fellowship entails a year-long program operating out of Washington D.C., from August 2005 to July 2006. Participants will receive healthcare benefits and an annual stipend.

Application information is available in Microsoft Word format online. For more information, e-mail wellstonefellowship@familiesusa.org or contact Melissa Rosenblatt: 202-628-3030.

(http://www.familiesusa.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Wellstone_Fellowship_About)

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CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER – SACRAMENTO REGION COMMUNITY FOUNDATION (California)

Our client, the Sacramento Region Community Foundation (www.sacregcf.org), is seeking a new Chief Executive Officer.  Founded in 1983, the SRCF was formed to help people connect with the causes about which they care. Community foundations are one of the fastest growing sectors of philanthropy in the United States. SRCF is a tax-exempt public charity created by and for the people in the local area.  The Foundation manages 275 different funds, with total assets of $51 million.  All funds share the common goal of serving donors, nonprofit organizations and the region as a whole. Since its founding, the SRCF has successfully placed over $38 million in grants.  The CEO works closely with the Board Chair, Board Committees and a twenty-three member Board of Trustees.

The Chief Executive Officer will be responsible for leading the next significant era for the Foundation; one that includes continued growth as well as heightened visibility for the Foundation.  The CEO interacts with philanthropically-minded individuals, families and organizations, professional advisors which includes lawyers, accountants and financial advisors, grant recipients, and the community leaders in our region.  The Chief Executive Officer oversees a staff of eight employees.  Issues of importance for the first twelve months include an internal focus on infrastructure and elasticity while continuing exceptional service to our donors and grantees, recruiting a new CFO, and in conjunction with the Board updating and refining the Foundation's strategic plan.

Key Requirements: ten plus years of increasingly responsible professional experience, culminating at the executive level; staff, and profit and loss management experience; experience in working with a nonprofit and a Board (could be through volunteerism); demonstrated skills in team-building; a passion for community service; the stature and presence to reflect the integrity of the Foundation; a graduate degree is preferred.

SRCF offers the opportunity to lead a well-positioned and solid community organization that plays an increasingly visible role in our region. A competitive compensation package will be available to the successful candidate.  Our client will interview pre-selected candidates on January 6 and 7, 2005.

For confidential consideration, we invite you at your earliest convenience (and no later than December 1) to email your chronological resume and compensation expectations to:

SRCF CEO Search,
Attn: Ms. Diane D. Miller,
C/o btopper@wilcoxcareer.com
Wilcox Miller & Nelson
100 Howe Avenue, Suite 155 North,
Sacramento, CA 95825
916-977-3700, 916-977-3733 (fax)

(www.sacregcf.org)

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TIPS/RESOURCES

GETTING COMMITTED SUPPORT TO PROMOTE AN ORGANIZATION

NCVA Note: Some people have asked how they can raise their organization’s visibility or the work that they do.  One answer is to get committed people from the local area to support the organization and its charitable works. There are many monetary awards that recognizes the work of young people in their efforts to build a better tomorrow today. One only needs to invite and include them in the charitable activities and to work with them in a collaborative fashion.

"People are motivated to give because they value the cause, whether it is religion, education, health care, or international relief." Henry Goldstein, chair of the Giving USA Foundation (http://www.aafrc.org/)


For her charity work through VNHELP, our young donor Chi Nguyen, 16, will be honored with a monetary award from NetAid and will appear in the following programs:

* NBC TV channel 11, Nov 30, at 10:00AM in "Bay Area at 10" program
* KQED Radio, fm88.5, Dec 02 at 6:33AM, 8:33AM

Please tune in to listen/watch the programs. Chi anh her family will fly to New York this week to receive the NetAid award.

NetAid (http://www.netaid.org) is an independent non-profit organization (501 c3) based in New York that educates, inspires and empowers young people to take action against global poverty.  NetAid's innovative programs and initiatives directly support the international community's goal of significantly reducing extreme poverty and related ills by 2015.  NetAid was founded in 1999 by the United Nations Development Programme and Cisco Systems.

In May 2004, Chi was invited to meet with Tiger Woods (a famed golf player) in Florida and appeared with him in a TV commercial on Fox News and ABC for the "Start Something" award from Tiger Woods and the Target Foundation.

This month, Chi is ready to accept orders for her delicious Almond Toffy candies to raise funds for the needy children in VN. Selling Almond Toffy is an annual holiday fundraising from Chi to benefit a VNHELP program, while her annual fundraising concert is organized in Spring.

I'm very proud of Chi Nguyen and her family. Their example is inspiring!

Regards
Thu Do - VNHELP Executive Director

(http://www.vnhelp.org)

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MAKING HEALTH COMMUNICATION PROGRAMS WORK: A PLANNER’S GUIDE

This handbook presents key principles and steps in developing and evaluating health communication programs for the public, patients, and health professionals. It expands upon and replaces two earlier publications titled Pretesting in Health Communications and Making PSA's Work. The guide discusses specific steps in program development and includes examples of their use. Sources of additional information on each subject are included at the end of the chapters.

http://cancer.gov/pinkbook

Publication date: September 2002
Source: Name National Cancer Institute
Address Cancer Information Service
Phone 1–800–422–6237

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COMMUNICATING HEALTH: PRIORITIES AND STRATEGIES FOR PROGRESS

Healthy People is a collaborative effort managed by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Healthy People 2010 represents the third time HHS has developed 10-year health objectives for the Nation.

The six objectives in the Health Communication Focus Area address the diffusion of the internet to households, the quality of health Web sites, health literacy, provider-patient communication, research and evaluation of communication programs, and centers of excellence in health communication. The purpose of this report is to provide an action plan to achieve the health communication objectives in healthy people 2010.

http://odphp.osophs.dhhs.gov/projects/HealthComm/default.htm

Publication date: July 2003

Source:
Name Office Of Disease Prevention And Health Promotion
Address 330 C St SW
Washington, DC 20201-0001

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NEWS

November 25, 2004

THE LE-TRAN FAMILY

Bu Annie Groer

Four days before Saigon fell to the Communists in 1975, Le-Thanh Le -- then 14 and known as Brigitte at her French school -- fled war-ravaged South Vietnam with her family to start a new life in Northern Virginia.

"I think it took us at least five or six years to get in the groove of things here," she says. "We had to learn about the culture and to adapt

Thanksgiving was an early lesson. "When we looked at the big turkey, it was very intimidating," says the woman who is now a U.S. citizen, wife, mother, chemical engineer and co-owner of Galerie Brigitte in McLean, a home accessories shop featuring Vietnamese lacquer, fine art, ceramics and fashion.

Over time, Le and her husband, Tuan Tran gave an Eastern twist to this all-American holiday.

Le and daughter Kristin Duyen-Anh Tran, 8, each will don an ao dai, Vietnam's ankle-length silk tunic slit from the waist down and worn over trousers. Justin Duy Tran, 10, and his dad, a Lockheed Martin software engineer, "always wear regular shirts and pants with ties, even though the traditional man would also have worn an ao dai with a headpiece as well," says the elder Tran. He came to Norfolk in 1974 to attend Old Dominion University, following two older siblings, and stayed.

At today's feast for 20 friends and relatives in Reston, tables will be covered with delicate, hand-painted Vietnamese silk and topped with celadon plates and bowls shaped like lotus blossoms. Blue-and-buff pottery vessels handcrafted in Bat Trang, north of Hanoi, will be filled with aromatic soups, sauces and rice, all served family style.

"I will make a Peking duck from my grandmother's recipe," says Le, who will also serve roasted pork, caramelized fish and spring rolls. "For dessert we'll have a sweet porridge of mung beans and coconut milk, or one made of tapioca, banana and coconut milk." And in a bow to the children, who will set the table and help clean up, there will be turkey.

"Before the kids, Thanksgiving was just a holiday," says Tran. "But now, bringing them up in this environment becomes more meaningful for us."

"In Vietnam, we always lived very close to each other," adds Le. "In this country we live very far apart. When we sat down for the very first Thanksgiving, we were thankful to have the time and to be part of the American culture. And now the next generation makes this tradition even more intense."

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6978-2004Nov23.html)

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November 25, 2004

CULTURE CENTER STILL A VISION WITHOUT A SITE
Proponents of a tribute to Vietnamese heritage work with Garden Grove council members to find a location.

By Daniel Yi, Times Staff Writer

The Garden Grove City Council has rescinded support for a large-scale Vietnamese cultural center near City Hall but will continue to work with the project's proponents to find a home within the city.

The council, acting as the city's redevelopment agency, voted unanimously Tuesday to continue the search for a location that can accommodate the proposed 3-acre complex.

The center would include a museum, library and conference rooms.

In August, the redevelopment agency signed an agreement with the Santa Ana-based Nhan Ai Foundation, the local nonprofit group that is leading the project.

The agreement did not call for Garden Grove to provide money or land, city and foundation officials said, but did formalize the city's support for the center. The agreement also proposed the project be on the corner of 7th Street and Garden Grove Boulevard, just blocks from City Hall.

The redevelopment agency has bought five of the 11 homes that occupy the block and envisions remaking the area with institutional and educational buildings.

But the agency was forced to rescind the agreement earlier this month because of a technical violation of the state's open meeting laws.

The agency had not listed all the potential sites for the cultural center that were discussed during an earlier closed session meeting.

The sites, six in all, have now been made public, but the agreement with Nhan Ai Foundation will have to be redrafted because of the violation.

A site proposed last year at the corner of Brookhurst Way and Garden Grove Boulevard was scrapped after some Korean American community members said it was too close to their business district.

On Tuesday, several residents who live near City Hall said they were concerned about the proposed site on Garden Grove Boulevard and 7th Street.

The cultural center "would be looking right into my backyard," said Don Worshauer, who lives just north of the site.

Worshauer, who bought his home 11 years ago, said he's also concerned because his house is in the redevelopment zone and the city could ultimately condemn it, he said.

Garden Grove officials said that the city has rarely invoked its powers of eminent domain to condemn land and that all of the properties it acquired on that block were done through negotiations with the owners.

City officials also said that because Garden Grove is built out, Nhan Ai Foundation would have trouble finding a large parcel of land for the $10-million center. The city can best help the foundation by identifying areas slated for redevelopment, they said. Nhan Ai would either buy the land from the original owners or through the redevelopment agency.

The City Council directed staff to begin a new search for a cultural center location, and outgoing Councilman Van Tran suggested that the new City Council, scheduled to be seated next month, form a subcommittee to manage the search.

Tran was elected to the state Assembly, and Mayor Bruce Broadwater is in the final days of his last term.

All five council members said Garden Grove, which has the largest Vietnamese American community in the U.S., should house a cultural center that memorializes Vietnamese refugees and the war.

"The refugee history is important," said Broadwater. "It's what America is all about, helping other people."

Phat Bui, a Nhan Ai Foundation director, said the group hopes the center will become a cultural anchor for the Vietnamese American community.

The foundation is working on more detailed business and architectural plans to present to the city, he said.

"Obviously, we want to make sure that whatever we do complies with the law," Bui said. And "we would certainly work with everyone to meet their views."

(http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-vietcenter25nov25,1,6993002.story)

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November 26, 2004

WINNING AT ALL COSTS
Talmadge Heflin tries to save his political future at the expense of his own party

Houston Chronicle

Now the returns are in and the conclusion is official. State representative Talmadge Heflin's separation problems aren't confined to giving up claims to a house guest's child. He'll clearly do anything to retain possession of the District 149 seat he's held for two decades, even if it includes thwarting the will of the district's voters.

Just as Heflin and his wife unsuccessfully turned to the courts to seize 20-month-old Fidel Odimara Jr. from his Nigerian mother, who lived in their home and claimed to be their maid, so Heflin is now trying to use the stacked deck of a Republican-controlled Texas House to reverse his apparent 32-vote defeat at the hands of political newcomer Hubert Vo.

In doing so Heflin may duplicate the embarrassment of his child custody fight, during which he made a widely circulated statement indicating that he could better raise a black child to responsible adulthood than the child's natural parents. This time around the veteran legislator is insulting the Vietnamese-American community of Southwest Houston by suggesting that the only way Vo could beat him was through vote fraud, which remains unsubstantiated. In making that claim Heflin is questioning the competence of County Clerk Beverly Kaufman, a fellow Republican, who certified the results, and the oversight group which scrutinized the certification of provisional ballots.

As the Chronicle's Rick Casey pointed out, Republican House Speaker Tom Craddick has subtly tried to convey the message to Heflin that it's time to let go of his seat and move on. Craddick not only gave away Heflin's office, he also named a successor to replace him as Appropriations Committee chairman.

Heflin's decision to ask his House colleagues to overturn the election, as with the grab for baby Fidel, demonstrates that he just doesn't know when to let go. It's a lesson Heflin would do well to learn, and quickly.

Up to now Republicans have had more success in penetrating Asian-American communities in Houston than black and Hispanic voter groups, partially because the former tend toward more conservative values. Even if Heflin gets the House to overturn the results of the election, it can't help but inflame the Vietnamese-American voters who heavily contributed to Vo's majority. If a new vote is mandated, it likely would result in a crusade by Vo's community to prevent what they would see as blatant election theft.

It would be a sad epitaph to his career if Heflin's last political act were to undermine GOP efforts to broaden his party.

(http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/editorial/2920153)

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November 27, 2004

FOR SOME MINORITIES, BUSINESS SUCCESS IS RELATIVE

By Kristen Millares Bolt
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Reporter

Small-business owners struggling to gather funds for a large investment might find some inspiration in a tradition that is quietly stimulating local merchant communities throughout Washington.

Many ethnic entrepreneurs are supplementing their capital by using community and familial ties as channels for informal lending systems, whether of cash or services, to open businesses and leverage growth.

These loan networks can be as simple as a grandparent caring for the child of working parents or as regimented as the time-honored custom of the "tanda," a round-robin system of cash loans on which many Mexicans have depended to make big purchases for their businesses and personal lives.

Although the tanda itself is uniquely Mexican, it has counterparts around the world in various cultures. Similar associations are known to the Chinese as "hui," to the Koreans as "kye," the Vietnamese as "ho," and to some Caribbean peoples as "en susu."

"The tanda is a forced savings pattern that is very used in our communities," said Sergio Manrique, 41, a real estate agent for Skyline Properties. "It is a way to get a loan without having to go through the terrible bank procedure. You get an interest-free loan immediately."

Manrique explained that someone in need of money will gather a close-knit group of friends, family members, and business associates to form a tanda, which takes the form of a weekly or monthly contribution of a fixed sum, say $100, to a communal pot that is given to one member on a fixed day each month.

Every participant chooses or draws a number that determines when they receive the cash. Often, the initiator of the tanda, who is in charge of collecting the money and safeguarding it until it is awarded, takes the first turn to satisfy the need for immediate cash that led him or her to begin the process.

"It requires a tremendous amount of trust, because you have to collect," said Manrique, who last used a tanda six years ago to fund radio advertisement for his services. "People comply, though, because you can't let the other person down."

The intimacy of the tanda makes it a particularly effective tool for close-knit communities to pool their resources in a way that benefits each individual. In a tanda of 10 people, the person in month five will have already paid out $500, at $100 a month, when he received that month's $1,000 pot, and will pay off that $500 loan in equal cash installments for the next five months.

The idea balances the economic rewards against the social penalties for non-compliance -- it becomes much harder to default when your sister or best friend is depending on the tanda that month.

People in tandas that fail to deliver, however, may have little legal standing. In 1993, a California Superior Court judge ruled against a Korean immigrant in Los Angeles who tried to use the courts to recover $50,000 owed to his kye.

Latin Business Association Chairman Ray Durazo says that Hispanics, and immigrants in general, must often find non-traditional ways of providing capital for their businesses.

"There is research that indicates that the vast majority of small businesses founded by Hispanics in the country are typically funded by family money, getting loans from friends of family, and/or using family credit cards to provide the initial capital for the startup," said Durazo, who also heads the association's educational arm, known as the LBA Institute. "It is a Hispanic pattern, but to an equal extent, an immigrant pattern."

Some of these peoples have witnessed severe fluctuations in their home countries' interest rates on loans and credit lines, and so distrust institutional lending. Others flee their countries shortly after such mercurial economic conditions preclude investment and drain their savings, arriving in the United States with little capital to establish themselves.

"Everyone in Mexico was in a panic in 1994," said Manrique, referring to the devaluation of the Mexican peso, which pillaged Mexico's local and national economies. "Annual interest rates went from 10 to 12 percent to 86 percent, so people who owed a balance on their cars and houses saw that balance skyrocket."

Manrique said that the 1994 peso devaluation devastated the life-insurance industry he flourished in, as the blue-collar workers who had bought the policies scrambled to liquidate their assets to pay off their suddenly frightening debts.

Manrique has risen to be a top agent of his company. Though he hasn't used a tanda in years, his current success may be the result, in part, of the radio ad campaign made possible by the tanda.

Many Hispanics, as Durazo pointed out, "do not own their own homes, and having equity in homes is often how small businesses are financed." This lack of startup funds forces them to turn to their friends and families for loans, which only sometimes take the form of tandas.

Members of minorities, who often include immigrants in their ranks, owned 15 percent of U.S. businesses in 1997, according to the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Administration. The SBA's figures showed that Hispanics made up 30.8 percent of the total minority business, and that 99 percent of those minority-owned businesses are small businesses. In 1997, there were 1 million Hispanic-owned businesses, and 39.3 percent of those belonged to Mexicans.

Intrafamily and community loans such as the tanda, then, have national import as a business strategy for lower-income entrepreneurs. In the Puget Sound area, the tanda's effects could be felt in the real estate market, where Manrique said it was typical to schedule a closing date closely after a client was slated to receive his tanda allotment.

Salvador Hernández is a South Park restaurateur who made national news in 2002 when Pfizer demanded that he change the name of his restaurant, La Viagra Marina, now called La Terraza. Hernández said that his wife, Guillermina, has organized tandas with her sister and brothers just to get together.

"It is more social than economic," said Hernández, who was last part of a tanda four months ago. "But it can resolve your personal financial problems."

More prevalent throughout Hispanic communities are the common practices of lending cash to make up the difference between a family member's existing resources and the required cost of a desired business investment, lending time by staffing a kin's new shop free of charge or lending services such as baby-sitting.

"It is a cultural thing," said Durazo. "The historical pattern has always been for the entire family to be directly or indirectly involved, whether in a local dry cleaner or restaurant."

That is certainly the case for Hernández, who depends on his wife and children to put in the hours in the family restaurant and his adjacent Mexi-Mart on 14th Avenue South and South Cloverdale Street. Although the nuclear family generally shoulders the burden of long-term maintenance of the store (which Hernández said had been open every day since it began in 1992), special projects can engage the entire family.

When Hernández was first remodeling the store after buying the space in 1991, he reaped the benefits of all those family bonds.

"My brothers, my sister, my sister-in-law, my brother-in-law, the brothers of my sister's husband, my children and my wife came to help me clean and paint, put the floors down and arrange all the merchandise," said Hernández, ticking off the relatives on his thick fingers. "Also, they helped me economically, lending me money to buy the merchandise and do some of the renovations. A little here, a little there."

That last little bit can make a serious difference in what entrepreneurs can do to grow their businesses.

Venustéano and Luisa Vásquez have been saving their money since before their arrival in the United States from the Mexican state of Oaxaca 20 years ago.

"We have always, always wanted our own businesses, ever since we were in Mexico," said Luisa Vásquez.

"The situation in Mexico was so difficult that it couldn't happen there, but we have always wanted to depend only on ourselves. That is why we never go out on the town and why we have always worked and saved."

Luisa Vásquez worked three jobs when she first came to Seattle, pulling the 8 a.m.-4 p.m. shift at a Chinese restaurant and then moving on to a Mexican business to work from 5 p.m. till closing. During her first year in the United States, she also cleaned a school on the weekends.

Her husband worked as a busboy, and fixed cars in his spare time.

Gradually, they both moved up in the ranks, she leaving the kitchen to become a waitress and he rising to supervisor.

Seven years ago, the couple opened a Latino video rental store, eventually including a money sending service, El Mexicano Express.

Three years ago, seeking to diversify after increasing competition drove sales down, they decided to purchase a 2,000-square-foot dilapidated and abandoned tavern that sat on the corner directly opposite to Hernández's Mexi-Mart.

Even after refinancing their home, and leveraging the second mortgage combined with their savings, the Vásquezes needed extra cash to close the deal.

"The money we had was supplemented by a loan from her cousin, who works on fishing boats in Alaska," said Venustéano Vásquez.

"Since then, I have been renovating the place bit by bit, as my 19-year-old son and my wife work at the store."

The Vásquez family is keeping their plans for the new business close to the vest until they open in the spring to ward off possible competition. Whatever the result, their efforts along with those of Hernández, whose store is stocked with all the brands, such as Goya, designed to warm the Hispanic heart, are contributing to the revitalization of this corner in South Park.

With just under a third of Washington's total Hispanic population living in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties, the effects of these cultural and financial rituals can be seen in the small business climate of Puget Sound.

Hispanics made up 7.5 percent of the Washington population in the 2000 Census and now constitute the fastest-growing part of the state's population, up from 4.4 percent in 1990 and 2.9 percent in 1980.

Durazo asserts that these practices are a springboard into typical American banking practices.

"If a company has survived and continued to grow, then the owner will reach out to traditional financial institutions such as banks to look for capital to strengthen their business prospects."

P-I reporter Kristen Millares Bolt can be reached at 206-448-8142 or kristenbolt@seattlepi.com

(http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/201336_retail27.html?searchpagefrom=1&searchdiff=4)

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November 28, 2004

FOLLOWING LEAD OF EX-COLUMNIST ISN’T WAY TO GO

By Scott Herhold
Mercury News

T.T. Nhu really didn't want to talk to me. The former Mercury News columnist and spokeswoman for Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown protested that she wasn't a public figure. She insisted that her decision was private, that she wasn't sure she wanted her exit interview to be an angry blast against the U.S.A.

Then, without holding back, she gave me the CliffsNotes version of why she is leaving America and returning to Hanoi because of the re-election of George W. Bush.

Hanoi? A place still run by communists? A city where Nhu's cherished outspokenness might affront someone? Well, yes. The notion of America as beacon to the world drives her close to despair. And Nhu thinks a life in Hanoi can be a happy one.

``My animosity to America has been growing,'' she told me. ``America is such an incredible bully. It's doing the same things in Iraq that it did in Vietnam. America always comes down on the wrong side of things.

Bullying

``It's bullying coupled with the vast ignorance of its people, who are anesthetized by television,'' she said. ``It's all about Halliburton, it's all about oil, it's all about Israel. . . . People miss the subtleties, the nuances. All they can see is freedom on the march.''

Born in Vietnam but raised partly in Europe, fluent in French, English, Spanish and Vietnamese, the 57-year-old naturalized American citizen was among the most cosmopolitan people on our staff. She was a walking Michelin Guide of ethnic restaurants: French, Thai, Afghan. She was engaged in a variety of political and charitable causes, including ``Operation Baby Lift,'' an effort to bring Vietnamese babies to America for adoption.

In her writing, she found ways to subtly undercut the certainties of American popular culture. Two weeks before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, she wrote a sympathetic piece about a young woman who wore hijab -- the full Muslim covering -- to her classes at the University of California-Berkeley.

The potential contradictions of her life didn't faze her. Although she was a committed leftist who traveled to Cuba, she lived an affluent life in the Berkeley hills. While she was deeply concerned about the plight of the less fortunate, she told friends giddily that she planned to wear an elaborate ao dai -- the traditional Vietnamese dress -- to the Oscars for the documentary she consulted on, ``Daughter from Danang.''

Hanoi? Though it strikes most of us as far-fetched, Nhu has her reasons. She explains that her well-to-do family split into two wings after the Vietnam War: One wing came to America and prospered in San Jose. Another wing stayed in Hanoi.

Good riddance?

It's among those people that she plans to settle. Her husband, a lawyer, has long done business with Vietnamese. ``I'll be able to find a nice place to live, somebody who can cook my meals for me,'' she explained. ``Vietnamese are wonderful, they're a noisy and scrappy people. I'm home and I'm happy. Goodbye, America.''

Patriotic Americans might reply, ``Well, good riddance.'' But these are difficult times. In the Bay Area, many of us agree with much of Nhu's critique, if not her tone.

So have we come to America, love it or leave it? It's a silly dichotomy, I think. I didn't want Bush to win. I detest the Iraq war. I'm sorry someone as politically and charitably engaged as Nhu finds she doesn't want to live here. Her departure is a loss.

Yet for most of us, I'm not sure that the question of loving or leaving is really on the table. Much of that is inertia. But when I think about it myself, the notion of responsibility -- and yes, thanks -- for what I've been given helps keeps me in place. In a sense, America is too important to desert. If we don't change what we find objectionable, who will?

Contact Scott Herhold at sherhold@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5877.

(http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/10288441.htm)

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November 29, 2004

VIETNAMESE COMMUNITY REPAYS KINDNESS BY AIDING THE HOMELESS
More than 300 are fed and given sleeping bags. The editor of a local publication solicits donations and organizes the annual event.

By David Reyes, Times Staff Writer

More than 300 homeless people in Santa Ana on Sunday were fed egg rolls, rice and coffee, then given new sleeping bags. The gesture, in its 10th year, was organized by Khoi Vu, the editor of Ngay Mai magazine, a free Vietnamese-language publication distributed in Little Saigon.

"We did this because the Vietnamese refugee community has received a lot of good things from the United States," he said. Vu has helped feed hundreds of homeless people in Cypress, Garden Grove and Santa Ana. Through appeals in his magazine and on Vietnamese-language radio, he gets donations and volunteers to help with food, sleeping bags and other items the homeless need.

Le Quy An, a Westminster business owner, donated 23 sleeping bags and his time on Sunday.

"In my country of Vietnam we always have been fighting," An said. "During the wars, we've never had enough, so we understand the homeless."

Hien Nguyen, 50, a Tustin goldsmith, donated two sleeping bags after hearing Vu's radio appeal and was at the Sunday event.

"It was a call for the Vietnamese community to help," Nguyen said, "and when I heard it, the weather was turning really cold and I decided to help."

Nguyen brought Vina, his 9-year-old daughter.

Little Saigon, comprising parts of Santa Ana, Garden Grove and Westminster, has the largest Vietnamese community outside Vietnam.

"This is a very, very big deal for us," said Jacqueline Phan, 62, of Westminster.

Vu, a self-described spiritual healer not affiliated with any religious group, also gave a short homily to those who congregated on Ross Street near the county's government buildings.

"I don't want to see you here next year. I hope that you will find jobs and be off the streets," Vu said.

For Debbie Ellis, 52, a single homeless woman, the sleeping bag will help her cope with temperatures recently in the low 40s.

Ellis said she had been living on the streets since July after losing her job when she got hurt while providing in-home nursing care. "I lost my apartment. I never thought that I would ever be out here homeless," she said.

Joe Gomez, 34, said he was thankful to the Vietnamese community for the food.

Gomez, who sleeps in his car, had a message for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"Tell him to build more shelters," he said. "We don't need more shopping malls, we need shelters."

Edwin Yates said he hadn't been able to work since he injured himself on the job at a circus two months ago.

For now he has a motel room, but may not be able to keep it much longer.

"I'm waiting for workmen's comp to kick in. But I've got a motel in Anaheim that I can stay at for another week. After that I might use this," Yates said, holding up a new sleeping bag.

(http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-sleepingbags29nov29,1,5749022.story)

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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.