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Vietnamese-American pastor receives $120,000 special leadership award for promoting, protecting, and preserving community after Katrina
Boston, Mass. – Surely it would have been fine for Vietnamese immigrants in New Orleans to eat American food in the first days and weeks after Katrina hit – they would have been relieved to have any food at all. But Father Vien Nguyen, the pastor at Mary Queen of Viet Nam Church and Chair of Mary Queen of Vietnam Community Development Corporation, set a high standard for food, just as he does with each aspect of his community work. He organized the preparation of rice and other traditional Vietnamese dishes for the older community members to bring a sense of nostalgia and comfort during and after the storm.
For his unwavering commitment to the Vietnamese-American community and because of his continuing efforts for the safety and health of others in his community, Nguyen is recipient of the special Gulf Coast Community Health Leadership Award by the Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leadership Program (CHLP).
The New Orleans Vietnamese-American community is the third largest in the U.S. and Father Nguyen has been described as its “cornerstone.” He has dedicated his life to preserving and strengthening this primarily low-income group. Just before Katrina hit, he opened the two-story rectory and school as shelters to poor and elderly residents who could not evacuate. During the storm, he organized boat rescues for people stranded in their homes. Shortly after the hurricane, Nguyen got temporary water, power, relief supplies, and organized worship services for over 6,000 community members. And he traveled 10,000 miles to evacuees in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas to ensure that members of the Vietnamese-American community received the relief services that they needed and to facilitate their return to New Orleans.
While some affected areas still did not have power, Nguyen negotiated with the local electric company to restore power to his community in November of 2005. Nguyen also negotiated with FEMA and all of the related agencies to establish an exclusive site with 199 trailers on parish-owned property for his parishioners to use while they rebuilt their homes. In the process of negotiating with FEMA for the199 trailers, he was able to leverage an $8 million investment in the infrastructure for the site to be used later for the construction of a 300-unit retirement center.
But his efforts did not stop there. Nguyen was among the first to return to Versailles, the New Orleans East neighborhood where much of the Vietnamese community lived. He worked tirelessly to prevent the city from using a nearby landfill in a wetland area as the dumping ground for pesticides, electronics and other contaminated debris from the storm. Through weekly meetings with residents, seniors, youth and business owners, he emphasizes not only returning to the status quo but creating a new and improved community with more pedestrian-friendly access than it previously had, and better implementation of environmental measures such as recycling.
“The revival of Versailles can largely be credited to Father Vien,” said Cynthia Willard-Lewis, a District E New Orleans City Council Member. “He offers energy and optimism to residents, he advocates fiercely for external resources, and he leads with the vision of creating a better future for the community.”
Nguyen, and the four winners will be honored at CHLP’s annual meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona on Thursday, October 12. In addition to Nguyen, the recipients are Kim Dilosa, Founder/Executive director, YOUTHanasia Foundation, Inc., Elise Hough, Executive Director, United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Houston, Bellaire, Tex; Joe Dawsey, Executive Director, Coastal Family Health Center, Biloxi, Miss., and Beverly Wright, Executive Director for Environmental Justice/Dillard University, New Orleans, La. Each winner will receive $105,000 to further the work of his or her program and a $15,000 personal award.
“The 2005 hurricanes brought into focus for all Americans the gaping holes in this country’s safety net,” said Catherine Dunham, Ed.D, CHLP’s Program Director. “It reinforced what we know to be true; that local leaders taking the initiative are really the first and best responders. They deserve this special award as recognition of their extraordinary contributions to the recovery effort.”
CHLP also awards $1.2 million each year to health leaders who have surmounted personal and other obstacles to help Americans gain access to health care and social services. Since 1992, the program has distributed 140 awards in 47 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. To learn more, visit www.communityhealthleaders.org.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. For more than 30 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org.
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