BPSOS – Delaware Valley is the local branch of a national Vietnamese American community organization with the mission to “empower, organize, and equip Vietnamese individuals and communities in their pursuit of liberty and dignity.”

Since 1980, one in 10 Vietnamese Americans has received assistance from BPSOS while still in Vietnam, on the high seas, in a refugee camp, or after arriving in the United States.

Through our 11 office locations in the U.S. and four office locations in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, we provide a web of services to support individuals, families, and communities. BPSOS-Delaware Valley works to promote a vision where Vietnamese American and immigrant individuals and families live in thriving, connected, communities which are free from violence.  We commit to this work through developing projects under four key areas that strengthen families and our community as a whole:

Southeast Asian Youth Empowerment Program (SEAYEP) : Programs during the school year and summer season focused on  youth including School-Year Youth Leadership Chapters for high school students;  after-school tutorials; Summer Youth Career Exploration Project; Journey Home and numerous short-term community service opportunities for Southeast Asian youth.

Citizenship Initiative in Vietnamese Immigrant Communities (CIVIC): Program to support eligible Vietnamese community members, and other legal permanent residents, through the citizenship process so that they will receive the benefits of citizenship including increased access to educational and employment opportunities, engage to a greater degree both politically and socially, will be less at risk for deportation, and will be able to reunify with family members.

Health Awareness & Promotion Program (HAPP): Informing and empowering Vietnamese-Americans to take health prevention into their own hands and become health advocates in the community. We are specifically working to tackle the issue of breast cancer, cervical cancer among Vietnamese women by reducing barriers to breast care.

Community Building Projects: Each year, we work with community members, leaders, and organizations to host our “hallmark” events in Philadelphia and South Jersey, which focus on building strong community connections through culture-based celebrations and engagement. Since 2009, these have been “Da Hoi Tinh Yeu (Love Festival)” in Philadelphia which celebrate strong families, and our “Tet Trung Thu (Mid-Autumn Moon Festival) in South Jersey). These events also act as fundraisers for BPSOS-DelV–with monies coming from our most important constituents–our community members!

BPSOS-Delaware Valley is invested in building and developing community-oriented leadership within the Vietnamese communities and allied partnerships in all of our work. If you are interested in working with the Vietnamese community–whether you speak Vietnamese or not–we need you! There are many opportunites and they change frequently, so please check back here.  Please note that these are generally volunteer and unpaid positions.