Vietnamese Asso Of Illinois

Vai provides public benefits assistance through its immigrant family resource program (ifrp), snap, immigration legal services, and new americans initiative (nai). We provide legal services to low-income, limited english speaking immigrants, refugees, and asylees and their families needing assistance with matters related to immigration and family law. Vai served 642 families in immigration and legal services, applying for medicaid, snap, ssi & retirement, non-idhs benefits, translations, and referrals through ifrp. In addition to services, vai hosts community education workshops to inform and empower community members around relevant issues, such as public benefit & immigration updates, civic engagement and local issues impacting community. We host biweekly mutual aid distributions with the help of 20 volunteers, engaging over 800 community members to address scarcity issues in the neighborhood and build community through activities and conflict resolution. Our political education work engages elders through facilitated discussions and youth through social justice webinars, book club meetings, and workshops on college campuses. In fy24, we developed our community's civic engagement by leading 4 voter education workshops and policy teach-ins, coordinating 10 phone-banking shifts, and organizing an early voting drive to provide interpretation support at the polls. Additionally, we trained and mobilized 32 community members to advocate for the language access and equity bill alongside our partner organizations in springfield.

Vai's youth program provides year-round services for culturally diverse youth, ages 5-13, from an after-school program to all-day summer youth program. As a part of our programming, we offer academic support, mentoring, and enriching experiences that foster personal growth, connection, and community. While continuing to observe covid-19 precautions, vai provided programming to over 40 youth between after-school and summer programming, retaining nearly 20 families from the last year. As a part of its programming, vai co-hosted workshops for student youth on topics such as emotional intelligence, black history month, and social justice issues.

Adult education - the adult literacy program provides english (esl) and citizenship instruction to limited-english-proficient community members, preparing them for their naturalization interviews with uscis and to improve their capacity to communicate in english. In fy'24, the program provides options for on-line learning and expanded services to approximately 285 learners with esl and citizenship instruction provided by 50 volunteer teachers. The program also expanded to dupage and will counties, such as a partnership with joliet public library to refer vai services to new immigrant population. In addition to on-line learning, limited in person instruction was provided at vai offices in chicago and carol stream, including one-on-one instruction at the bezazian public library in chicago.