Dear VietAID’s Friend,
Vietnamese American Initiative for Development (Viet-AID) is a non-for-profit organization providing bilingual early education, afterschool program, and summer campaign, and housing assistance for children and families in Field Corner neighborhood of Boston. With the holidays just around the corner, I’d like to share you a story…
Sarah, 14, a middle school student who moved to the states a couple years ago with her family. Previously, she was failing all of her classes, and never did homework. When she first came to our afterschool program, Viet-AID Scholarly Program for Youth (VSPY), she was lack of confidence and dejected. We work with Sarah, her parents and school teachers together. After attending our afterschool program one month, we received an email from Sarah’s teacher. The teacher was very excited to tell us that Sarah is now passing every single subject. Sarah now not only always gets her homework done, but also helps other kids with schoolwork. She has higher self-esteem; she becomes confident, caring for herself and others.
Sarah’s achievement may sound small, but it can be a big change impact on her future. There are many immigrant families like Sarah, who are not familiar with the local school system and facing language barrier, these factors challenge the children’s education.
Three years ago, our summer camp hired a 16 years-old mother and enrolled her three years-old daughter in our Au-Co Preschool. Today, the mother is a proud owner of a GED and studying to be a Medical Assistant; her daughter after having graduated from the preschool, is now a good student at a local elementary school.
With the belief that parent involvement plays a significant role in a child’s success, we work closely with parents and coordinate with school to develop individualize education and behavior plans for students identified as needing extra support. Additionally, VSPY sees the importance of building a sense of civic engagement and cultural identification within student through a variety of activities. We care not just about our children’s academic achievement; instead, we value their diversified development.
Last year we have achieved…
100% of parents would recommend VSPY to other families
93% of parents say that VSPY helps them better understand their child’s education
97% of students say the VSPY makes them excited about learning
89% of students completed their homework all or most of the time
94% of students made equal or greater progress in writing than their peers during the school year
We believe every child has equal education opportunity despite family income, therefore, we provide scholarships to needy families. The fees of VSPY are determined by families’ ability to pay. Now, 75% of the families we serve pay less than 18% of the full price tuition. For our preschool program, we also provide subsidies to low income families. On average, they pay only 67% of the childcare fees.
We hope to assist more children like Sarah in our community, but we cannot not do it alone without your support. We need your assistance to strive to create an affordable and fair learning environment.
Your donation will allow students to learn and growth at a safe environment, and prevent them from unhealthy activities after school hours. Your donation will allow young children receive high quality early child-care and education. Your generosity will also provide academic materials, field trip, snacks, and supplies for Friday Clubs activities, such cooking & baking, science, magic clubs for the students. Please join us to build a stronger future for our children!
You can send your check or visit our website at http://vietaid.org/ to make a secure donation. You can even make your contribution on behalf of family or friends and we acknowledge your gift on their behalf, and your donation to Viet-AID tax deductable. Please feel free to contact me if you have any question or want to learn more about our services.
We and the children we serve wish you Happy Holidays :)
Sincerely,
Nam Pham
Executive Director
nam@vietaid.org
617-822-3717 X 13