🌟 Call for Nominations – VAO Community Award Gala 🌟 This year, we are skipping our annual Community Festival to host a very special event — the VAO Community Award Gala, honoring the 50th anniversary of the Vietnamese American journey (1975–2025). We invite you to submit nominations to recognize individuals, organizations, or businesses that have made meaningful contributions to the Vietnamese community in the Bay Area. 🏆 Award Categories ✨ Lifetime Achievement Award – Honoring decades of dedication and service ✨ Community Impact Award – Recognizing significant contributions ✨ Rising Star Award – Celebrating emerging leaders making a difference 📩 Submit your nominations today and help us honor those who uplift and inspire our community. 👉 https://forms.gle/nq7NFmJ5m4eo4WNA7 Let’s come together in gratitude, legacy, and resilience as we celebrate this historic milestone. #VAOGala #CommunityAward #VietnameseAmerican #TriAn

📅 Save the Date! Join us for the Community Award Gala ✨ A night of gratitude, legacy & resilience ✨ 📍 San Jose, CA 🗓️ Saturday, October 18 🕔 5:00 PM 🎉 50 years of the Vietnamese American journey 💛 Honoring our community’s heroes More details coming soon! #gala #CommunityCelebration #TriAn #VietnameseAmerican50 #VAOUSA

This Labor Day, we honor the hard work, resilience, and contributions of workers across generations — especially the Vietnamese American community members who have built new lives, preserved our culture, and paved the way for future leaders. 🇺🇸 Every act of labor, from supporting a family to organizing for equity and practicing traditions, is an important step in building community power and opportunities for all. Today is a day to celebrate you: professionals, students, elders, and change makers who remind us how progress is built as a community. 💪🏽 #LaborDay #VietnameseAmerican #Community #VAO

Disgraced former San Jose council member Omar Torres was sentenced to 18 years in prison Friday for multiple sex crimes. While many remain silent due to political affiliations or fear of backlash, we are proud to be the only Vietnamese American organization that has taken a clear and public stand on this issue to protect our community from harm and hold leaders accountable. https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/san-jose-omar-torres-sentencing/3940651/ #NoFear #VAO #CivicEngagement

🎉Catch VAO at St. Maria Goretti Church Annual Festival – This Weekend! 🎉 We’re excited to be tabling at the annual festival hosted by St. Maria Goretti Church – a large, multicultural parish with over 5,000+ registered parishioners, and one of the key parishes serving the Vietnamese community in San Jose. 🌟 Festival Highlights: 🎡 Carnival rides 🎟️ Raffles & games 🎤 Live entertainment 🍽️ Authentic food: Vietnamese, Filipino, Mexican, and American cuisine Stop by the VAO table to: ✅ Say hello 👋 ✅ Learn about your constitutional rights ✅ Pick up free immigration and community resources 📍 St. Maria Goretti Church – 2980 Senter Road, San Jose, CA 95111 📅 This Weekend – Bring your family & friends! #VAOSupport #KnowYourRights #StMariaGoretti #VietnameseCommunity #ImmigrantJustice #CommunityFestival #SanJoseEvents

📢 BIẾT QUYỀN CỦA BẠN: Hãy nhớ Quyền của bạn được bảo vệ – dù bạn có tình trạng di trú ra sao Hiến pháp Hoa Kỳ bảo vệ mọi người đang sống tại Hoa Kỳ – dù là công dân hay không. Bạn có quyền: ✅ Giữ im lặng ✅ Từ chối cho vào nhà, khám xét hoặc tịch thu nếu không có lệnh tư pháp của tòa án có chữ ký của thẩm phán. ✅ Yêu cầu gặp luật sư ✅ Được đối xử công bằng theo pháp luật 📚 Nhiều người trong cộng đồng vẫn chưa hiểu biết về quyền căn bản của Hiến Pháp Hoa Kỳ 👥 Nếu nhóm, tổ chức, hoặc cộng đồng tôn giáo của bạn cần một buổi thuyết trình "Biết Quyền Của Bạn" phù hợp, hãy liên lạc với chúng tôi. Chúng tôi có thể tổ chức workshop, tập huấn, hoặc tham gia sự kiện cộng đồng của quý vị. 📩 Email: info@vaousa.org hoặc nhắn tin trực tiếp cho chúng tôi để sắp xếp. -------------- 📢 REMEMBER: Your Rights Are Protected — Regardless of Your Immigration Status The U.S. Constitution protects everyone in this country — citizens and non-citizens alike. You have the right to: ✅ Remain silent ✅ Refuse entry, search, or seizure without a judicial warrant ✅ Speak to a lawyer ✅ Be treated fairly under the law 📚 Many people still don’t know their basic rights — and that’s why VAO is here to help. 👥 If your group, organization, or faith community would benefit from a Know Your Rights presentation tailored to your audience, let us know! We’re happy to provide workshops, trainings, or tabling events. 📩 Contact us at info@vaousa.org or DM us to schedule. #KnowYourRights #VAOSupport #CommunityDefense #BietQuyenCuaBan #ConstitutionalRights #ImmigrantJustice #DeportationDefense

Our schedule has been released! Please read through our information to understand what we are doing and how you can buy tickets in this two step process. For any questions please contact us: Email: info@vaousa.org Instagram/facebook: @vaousa VAO is partnering with the Golden State Warriors this season to sell tickets for games. Our goal is to sell 500 tickets amongst our organizations and partnered organizations within the VAO community. By meeting this goal, we do not profit from the ticket sells, however, we will be able to build a reputation with the Warriors and work towards hosting a Vietnamese Heritage night. There is a two step process for this event that VAO is hosting. By filling out this form, VAO will narrow down which game(s) you are most interested in. By understanding which games are of most interest, we can then work with the Warriors to prepare a special link for buying the actual tickets. By filling out this form you are NOT buying or paying for tickets. This is simply to see which games generate most interest so that VAO can help you get ahold of the tickets you want. By buying through VAO, there will be no extra fees or taxes compared to ticketmaster. Please fill out this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdYY5skFd81q0apHxdeH7XUN1ccZMh2KfJmT9rvDBoWXbazXg/viewform

🌟 Join VAO at Marian Days This Weekend! 🌟 Hosted by the Vietnamese Catholic Community of San Jose & Our Lady of La Vang Parish This incredible event features: 🍲 A vibrant food court 🎤 Live entertainment 🙏 Spiritual enlightenment 🤝 Community & business resources 🪑 And seating for 3,500 people every day! 📣 Come by to connect, say hello, meet our team members, and learn more about VAO! We'll be sharing Know Your Rights info and immigration resources all weekend. 📍 Location: Eastridge Mall, San Jose 📅 This Weekend – Don’t miss it! Event Programs & Schedule: https://www.ourladyoflavangsj.org/mariandays2025 #MarianDays #VAO #VietnameseCommunity #KnowYourRights #CommunityResources #FaithAndCulture #SanJoseEvents #ImmigrationResources

VAO is partnering up with the Golden State Warriors to sell tickets to their upcoming season. Game schedule launches tomorrow! 🌉🏀 Please be ready to interact with our posts and let us know which game(s) from the schedule you’re most interested in as well as a possible amount of tickets that you might be interested in buying! This estimate helps us prepare for the actual ticket sales. Our ultimate goal is 500 TICKETS 🎟️ to build up for the first-ever Vietnamese Heritage Night partnered with the Warriors! 🏀🏀

We're officially on Substack! Subscribe now to stay informed and ensure you get all our updates and announcements.Visit us on substack vaousa.substack.com

📣 Community Outreach Highlights – Last 3 Weeks! Over the past few weeks, our team had the honor of engaging with hundreds of community members at incredible events: ✨ Ignition – hosted by Miss & Mrs. Vietnam USA @missmrsvnusa 🦷 Community Dental Care Day – hosted by Northern California Association of Vietnamese-American Dentists at Vietnamese American Cultural Center ❤️ Community Health Fair – hosted by VN Cares @vncares at Vietnamese American Service Center @scc_vasc At each event, we shared vital information about: ✅ Know Your Rights ✅ Constitutional protections for all people ✅ Immigration resources and deportation defense support We also had the chance to network with community leaders, organizers and other amazing organizations doing great work for our community. ❤️ Huge thanks to each organization for having us and for creating space to inform, empower, and uplift our community. We look forward to more collaborations! Thank you to all who stopped by, shared their stories, and showed support. We’re just getting started — more events coming soon! More photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/vaousa/albums #VAOSupport #CommunityOutreach #KnowYourRights #ImmigrantJustice #VietnameseAmerican #DeportationDefense #CommunityPower

PRESS RELEASE: Vietnamese American Organization Condemns ICE After Second Vietnamese Death in Custody. Two Vietnamese men died in ICE custody within weeks — community demands justice and accountability English: https://www.vaousa.org/press-release-vietnamese-american-organization-condemns-ice-after-second-vietnamese-death-in-custody Vietnamese: https://www.vaousa.org/thong-cao-bao-chi-to-chuc-vao-vietnamese-american-organization-len-an-ice-sau-cai-chet-thu-hai-cua-nguoi-viet-trong-trai-giam

🛡️ KNOW YOUR RIGHTS 🛡️ 📢 Protecting our community through education and action In response to the current administration’s strict immigration enforcement, VAO is launching a Know Your Rights (KYR) campaign to help immigrant communities understand their constitutional rights, especially when interacting with ICE, DHS, or law enforcement. ⚖️ We also continue to provide deportation defense support — helping individuals and families navigate legal risks and stay together. 📚 Many don’t realize that the U.S. Constitution protects everyone, regardless of immigration status. We’re here to change that. 👉 Look out for: ✅ PSA through social media and various channels. ✅ Community workshops ✅ Tabling events ✅ KYR trainings ✅ Online multilingual resources ✅ Deportation Defense support 💬 This initiative is partially funded by the County of Santa Clara, California and Supervisor Otto Lee Together, we’re building a more informed and empowered community. Visit www.vaousa.org/kyr to learn more. #KnowYourRights #DeportationDefense #VAOSupport #ImmigrantJustice #CommunityDefense #BietQuyenCuaBan #KYR #SantaClaraCounty #OttoLee

🧡 Are you a Vietnamese-speaking caregiver for a loved one with late-stage cancer? UC Irvine is doing a study to better support you. It takes about 2 hours, and you can receive up to $30. Your story matters. Please share or reach out if you're interested. #VietnameseCaregivers #CancerSupport #UCI #VietnameseAmerican #VAO

First #Vietnamese American NBA champion! Jaylin Williams became the first Vietnamese American NBA champion on Sunday evening when the Oklahoma City Thunder clinched a 4–3 Finals victory over the Indiana Pacers in Game 7. Thanks @rebelyellow__ https://substack.com/@rebelyellow/note/p-166672863

☀️ Summer starts today — and we’re kicking it off with gratitude and good vibes! Last week, we hosted our very first Tiếng Việt with Friends (TVF) event — and it was amazing! From interactive games to heartfelt conversations, it was a beautiful start to something special.💬✨ Thank you to everyone who joined us, and a special shoutout to @raw.superfoodcafe San Jose for welcoming us into your space! 💛 ☀️ Wishing you a joyful summer — enjoy the sunshine, spend time with friends, family, and loved ones, and make great memories. 📸 View the photo album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/vaousa/albums/72177720326924951/ 🌐 Learn more about TVF or join our next event: www.vaousa.org/tvf #TVF #VietnameseWithFriends #SanJoseEvents #VAOUSA #RAWSuperfood #HappySummer #LanguageAndCommunity #TiengViet