Congratulations to our Executive Director Tracy La for being recognized by the Orange County Grantmakers with the Emerging Leader Award at their 2024 Annual Summit this month!

Tracy’s work, passion and dedication for our community has been instrumental in transforming Little Saigon and building a multiracial, multi-generational movement for social justice in Orange County. Please join us in celebrating Tracy!

We’ll be hosting multiple Get Out the Vote (GOTV) volunteer events from Saturday, October 5, through Election Day (10/05, 10/12, 10/19, 10/26, 11/2), from 10 AM to 3 PM.

Join us as we canvass in Santa Ana to encourage voters to support local ballot measures DD and CC. Measure DD extends voting rights to all residents, regardless of immigration status, and Measure CC protects rent stabilization and just cause eviction laws.

In collaboration with the Center for Third World Organizing (CTWO), VietRISE is excited to be the host site for CTWO’s Community Action Training (CAT) this Fall! CAT is a two-day introductory training where participants can learn about key strategies for social change, mobilize around the current political moment, and connect with organizers, activists, and community leaders. Workshop topics include outreach, campaign strategy, member retention strategy, grassroots fundraising, and the history of organizing. Masks are required for this in-person event. Training will take place at the VietRISE Office.

Registration is on a sliding scale from $50-$125. VietRISE is offering scholarships to cover the full cost of this training series. You can apply for the scholarship here: bit.ly/ctwoxvietrise.

📢 Are you a Santa Ana voter (or planning to register as one)? Are you 18-35 years old? Take the Santa Ana Young Voter Survey!

This community survey by Harbor Institute is designed to provide key insights into what young voters in Santa Ana are thinking about the upcoming election and the future of the city. All responses are completely anonymous. Share your thoughts and take the survey by Friday, October 18.

Every election, VietRISE shares a voter guide to help our community make informed decisions on local and state ballot measures. Below is our summary of each state proposition and the Santa Ana city ballot measures.

As the summer heat wave dwindles, our amazing team of canvassers continue to go door-to-door about the upcoming General Election! In Santa Ana, we spoke to residents about Measure DD (noncitizen voting) and Measure CC (rent stabilization). In Westminster, Garden Grove, and Midway City, we spoke to residents about how to stay cool during heat waves. In total, we have spoken to over 2700 residents in Little Saigon!

Thank you to everyone — attendees, vendors, organizations, elected officials, artists, and more— who joined us for this day of solidarity and celebration at the 3rd Little Saigon Community Festival! At the heart of the event was a call to action. We called for ICE out of Little Saigon, to keep rent control in Santa Ana, and expand local voting rights to ALL residents in Santa Ana, regardless of immigration status.

Shoutout to our friends and cohosts at the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) and the Harbor Institute for another beautiful festival in the books.

We are pleased to announce that we are hosting the Thế Lực Cộng Đồng Civic Engagement Internship program again this year! Our interns are gaining valuable insights into the upcoming General Election and the impact of ballot measures on our local communities while actively engaging with residents through door-to-door canvassing.

Thank you to everyone who joined us last week for the launch of our video series, Power In Belonging! The series highlights multiracial organizing in the Defend Sanctuary Movement, the Rent Control campaign, and the push to expand voting rights in Santa Ana.

We had a great panel discussion on movement-building and multiracial solidarity, thanks to the support from UC Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute and Tram Chim Live King Crab in Westminster for hosting us!

#PowerInBelonging — This OC Register article captures our Power in Belonging Video Series launch event that took place last Thursday.

Latino and Vietnamese organizations in California’s 45th congressional district, which features one of the most closely watched races of the 2024 election cycle, have joined forces to advocate for a more representative and responsive government.

“There is more that unites us than separates us,” said Carlos Perea, executive director of the Harbor Institute for Immigrant and Economic Justice, during an Oct. 10 meeting at the Tram Chim Live King Crab restaurant in Westminster.

“I’m tired of seeing our communities being used as political pawns,” he said. “What I hope to do is build our own political power together.”

#DoMustGo — After months of controversy over $13 million in Covid relief funds, directed to nonprofit Viet America Society (VAS) by Supervisor Andrew Do, local organizations and elected officials continue to demand Do’s resignation. The OC Board of Supervisors removed him from existing committee and regional board positions. A county lawsuit, relocated to San Diego because Do’s wife is a judge at the OC Superior Court, alleges that VAS and its associates, including Do’s daughter, pocketed taxpayer money to buy homes and converted the rest to cash.

VietRISE calls for accountability, for Do to do the right thing and step down. “He has really embarrassed and betrayed the Vietnamese community” – Tracy La, VietRISE Executive Director

We send our heartfelt gratitude to Karen for all of her hard work this summer! Many of you may have encountered Karen as our Volunteer Coordinator for the Little Saigon Community Festival this year where she put tireless hours into training our team of over 40 volunteers on their duties, coordinating art-making workshops for decorations and activities throughout the festival grounds, ensuring that our volunteers had everything they needed, and so much more.

Karen’s dedication, hard work, and readiness to learn, evaluate, and switch gears when needed played a huge role in the success of the Little Saigon Community Festival. We wish her the best of luck with law school and the next chapter of her life!