Although plans to resume construction at the Viet Heritage Garden remain on hold, residents can now enjoy farming vegetables and herbs at a community garden at the corner of the vacant land. Roughly 50 residents joined Councilmember Maya Esparza in celebrating the opening of the community garden Saturday morning. “Happy New Year, and thank you...
Vietnamese
Vietnamese
San Jose Vietnamese community at center of Philip Nguyen’s advocacy work
The Vietnamese American Roundtable is becoming a household name in the South Bay, and at the core of the transformative effort is its first ever executive director, Philip Nguyen. Nguyen, who served as a part-time program manager starting in 2020, took on the leadership role last summer, marking a pivotal point for the growing organization....
San Jose expands community use at Viet Heritage Garden, after years of dispute
After sitting empty for six years due to a lack of funding, a garden honoring San Jose’s vast Vietnamese community sprouts signs of life. San Jose announced in late December it is expanding a community garden program at the Viet Heritage Garden located at 1499 Roberts Ave. The Viet Heritage Garden, which spans four acres and...
San Jose council candidate leads protest against redistricting proposal
More than 20 people gathered in front of San Jose City Hall Tuesday evening to protest a redistricting map they say is divisive and discriminatory. The protest, organized by District 7 City Council candidate Bien Doan, calls for the rejection of the Unity Map—a proposal brought forth by a coalition of local civil rights, labor...
The Dragon Mountain still closed after Santa Clara County shutdown
Santa Clara County shut down a local, privately-owned park in 2019 over a number of land use and permit violations. The property owner is now claiming county officials are delaying and stonewalling his efforts to fix these issues. For several years, South Bay resident Keith (Kiet) Ngo watched thousands of people from all over the...
San Jose mayor taps local organizer to serve as Asian community liaison
Tri Nguyen started work as a community liaison in San Jose City Hall with a clear purpose: To get city services to his community. Since his family immigrated to San Jose from Vietnam more than 17 years ago, Nguyen has grown to love his second home in the South Bay. “I have built my roots here,” Nguyen told...
Hundreds celebrate the opening of Vietnamese service center in San Jose
Donning traditional áo dài dresses and Vietnamese heritage flag face masks, hundreds of South Bay residents joined county officials Saturday to celebrate the opening of the first-ever Vietnamese American Service Center. Ai Duong Truong came to the event with her friends from the Hội Người Việt Cao Niên San Jose (Vietnamese Senior Group in San...
San Jose business owners, nonprofit help provide COVID relief in Vietnam
As COVID-19 infections engulfed Vietnam and killed 10,000 people in September, two local Vietnamese-American brothers and a nonprofit sprung into action. David Duong, CEO of California Waste Solutions and a community leader in San Jose, has split his time doing business between the South Bay and the Southeast Asian country. A refugee who fled Vietnam as a...
‘A historic moment’: Santa Clara County unveils landmark Vietnamese service center
After nearly a decade of planning, the $33-million Vietnamese American Service Center near the heart of San Jose’s Little Saigon will welcome residents in for the first time Saturday. “This is such a huge moment for our community to get a service center that is dedicated to us, especially coming out of COVID,” Christina Johnson,...
Mentor program sows seeds for San Jose Vietnamese youth
Alexander Nguyen was asked at the first session of a summer mentorship program why he was there. Seven weeks later, standing in the backyard of the Viet Museum on a blazing hot Saturday, he said he finally found an answer. “For 10 years, I have shut out my community,” he told a crowd of about 20 people. “This...