City of San Jose opens its first Vietnamese American Community Center

It has been a long time coming, but the City of San Jose, a city with one of the largest Vietnamese population in nation, will finally open its first Vietnamese American Community Center at the Shirakawa Community Center. The center demonstrates a need in the community for a place that celebrates the Vietnamese culture and provide services for the growing demographics.

The City of San Jose’s Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood Services (PRNS) collaborated with the Office of Economic Development’s Work2Future on the shared use of the Shirakawa Community Center at 2072 Lucretia Avenue, San Jose, CA 95122. The shared use will begin from October 2016 until June 2018, as the permanent home of the Vietnamese Community Center is still under discussion. The grand opening of this center in San Jose District 7 is situated in the middle of Vietnamese communities and businesses.

According to the Manager’s Budget Addendum #15, the projected funding needs of the center for 2016-2017 is at an estimated $402,400.

One of the main challenge this new center will face will include determining the types of services and engagement it will provide for the Vietnamese American community. Nevertheless, the grand opening of the first Vietnamese American Community Center this October 2016. Having a dedicated center for the Vietnamese community means these immigrants, refugees, youth, and seniors will have a center to call their own in San Jose.

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Viviane Nguyen She is a lover of politics. She has researched and worked in different levels of government in San Jose, Sacramento, Washington D.C., and Thailand. She is motivated to highlight issues impacting the Vietnamese-American community and Asian American communities at large. She was formerly a Cal-in-Sacramento Fellow at UC Berkeley and notably a Public Policy and International Affairs Fellow at the Goldman School of Public Policy. She wants to write to show why politics, especially in 2016, is important.

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