Homeownership – a dream of most Biloxi families – is brought closer by detailed explanations of how to obtain loans.

June 25, 2009: BPSOS-Biloxi is at the service of people who want to become homeowners or make themselves financially independent.

To give community members a better look at how to achieve those goals, the Biloxi office held a financial workshop for clients of the Individual Development Account (IDA) program on June 20.

“This workshop also qualified first-time homebuyer clients for grants ranging from $14,000 to $65,000 from state and local government in Mississippi,” said branch manager Daniel Le. “We thought it was a great training, and we’re proud that our clients received a comprehensive package of information to benefit them in their quest to become homeowners.”

June 19, 2009: Joining the case management team of the Hurricane Ike Disaster Case Management Program (HIDCMP) is Tina Phelipot, a graduate of California State University Long Beach. BPSOS is proud to welcome her aboard!

“With her degree in Business Management, and her wealth of personal experience from working at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Tina is definitely adding a huge amount to our case management program,” said Danielle Bolks, director of the HIDCMP.

“My prior work required a lot of patience,” said Phelipot. “Now, I hope to apply my skills at Boat People SOS.”

Welcome to the team!

June 17, 2009: The Ike Disaster Recovery Program (IDRP) is proud to welcome Anthony Vo!

Vo received his BBA from Sam Houston State University, with a major in Business Administration and a minor in Human Resources. With 18 years of experience in human resources, he has developed skills in recruitment, new hire orientation, and training.

He formerly served as a human resources manager for a nonprofit charter school, an experience that brought him to Boat People SOS (BPSOS).

Thuy Loan Nguyen, program coordinator at BPSOS-Louisville, talks with students in the ongoing citizenship class.

June 16, 2009: The office of the BPSOS-Louisville branch has been a hub for preparations and anticipation as community leaders gather to plan a fundraising concert for the local Amerasian Group. At the same time, citizenship classes have been rolling along, providing Louisville Vietnamese-Americans with an avenue to civic rights and responsibilities, including the ever-important right to vote!

“It’s an exciting time for the Louisville office,” said branch manager Brooke Ha. “We have so many valuable leaders stepping up to take important roles, and we’re grateful for that.”

Here are more scenes from Louisville, where Ha, her colleagues, and volunteers have been hard at work engaging the Vietnamese-American community:

June 15, 2009: Belaynesh (Belai) Andarge brings to BPSOS her diverse experience in program and case management, case management.

“We’re excited to welcome Belai to our team,” said Danielle Bolks, director of the Ike Disaster Recovery Project (IDRP). “With six years of work for a nonprofit refugee resettlement agency under her belt, she’s sure to add professionalism and best practices to our efforts.”

Besides her busy work life, Belai also spends her time with her son and daughter, who are both in college.

The famous Vietnamese dancing lion is always a crowd-pleaser, and certainly has better moves than Barney the Purple Dinosaur.

June 12, 2009: Guitars and lions took the stage for the May 16 Asian Culture Festival, which BPSOS-Louisville helped host!

The festivities marked the 15th year of the annual event, and a crowd of over 1,150 people turned out to see and hear the sights and sounds of ancient traditions and modern-day Asian creativity!

The event took place in the sophisticated space of the Speed Art Museum, the oldest and largest such institution in Kentucky, which boasts over 13,000 pieces in its permanent collection. Its extensive collection spans 6,000 years, ranging from ancient Egyptian to contemporary art.

June 10, 2009: BPSOS-Houston is excited to welcome Ninh K. Vo, who will be supporting the Ike Disaster Recovery Program (IDRP) as a data management and IT specialist!

A graduate of Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, he has many years of experience as an IT specialist and quality assurance engineer.

This is his first experience working for the Vietnamese-American community, and he has expressed great excitement about the opportunity.