IRCC HISTORY

On our 31^st anniversary, IRCC, Inc. is launching its Dream Project – the Historical Journey of the Vietnamese to all countries, states and cities outside of Vietnam, but particularly the Journey to San Jose and Silicon Valley.  We have been busy since the beginning of our community here, collecting books, photographs, historical papers and artifacts that document this Journey.  We have been researching and providing information about the stumbling blocks and successes of the community and individuals to various Vietnamese language media over the past 30 years.  We continue to do so with our newly created media network including television and radio programs, newspapers, magazines and internet sites.  We will develop and maintain a library/museum and a website that will disseminate all the above information to the community of Vietnamese and scholar-researchers everywhere around the world.  We will tell the stories about individuals whose struggles and triumphs make all of us proud to be Vietnamese.

WE WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE OURSELVES TO YOU

IRCC, Inc.  – the Immigrant Resettlement & Cultural Center – was the very first community-based organization in Silicon Valley offering education and social services to the Vietnamese community.  We have been building community alliances and strengthening all immigrant families and neighborhoods since 1976. We have witnessed, or influenced, historical events for three decades.

The original mission of IRCC was to resettle refugees from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.  When we opened the agency the original name was Indochinese Resettlement and Cultural Center.  In the year 2000 we changed the organization’s name officially because we now provide refugee resettlement services to immigrants from all over the world.  The agency started in 1976 as a Refugee Resettlement Agency under the Social Planning Council of Santa Clara County.  From 1980 to the present, IRCC has been a California non-profit, public benefit, community-based corporation with tax exemption under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code and section 23701 (d) of the California Revenue and Taxation Code. 

IRCC provides about 20 different programs, some funded and some supported through volunteer service, to the immigrant and low-income communities of Silicon Valley.  Immigrant services include English as a Second Language classes, citizenship classes, employment counseling/job development, and assistance with housing.

We also have a Vietnamese radio program on Channel 1500AM and television program on Comcast Cable 30, broadcast weekly and listened to by more than 40,000 people.

While we certainly plan to continue to provide services to immigrants, refugees, and other low-income residents of Santa Clara County, our goal is to offer cultural services that will encompass a wider audience, including residents from other counties and states.  The Vietnamese Boat People Museum is an example of one of the projects that will allow us to do this. 

We also plan to implement educational programs for children, teens and adults, including classes in Vietnamese language and culture.  The Vietnamese have been immigrating to Santa Clara County for more than 30 years, and due to the large population of Vietnamese in California as well as the nation as a whole, we feel it is necessary for us to offer a service that will help foster understanding of the Vietnamese people and help preserve our culture.  We are very proud to present to you a brief history of IRCC, Inc. as you join with us in celebrating our past achievements and future dreams.

 

THE COMMUNITY HISTORICAL JOURNEY

In 1975 a few hundred refugees from South East Asia were processed through Camp Pendleton and came to San Jose to resettle.  By 1976, when IRCC, Inc. was founded, there were 2,500 people.  The Vietnamese were the first people to find an economic home in the new electronics assembly plants as a group.

By 1980, 4,000 Vietnamese were ready, applied for and achieved citizenship.  In the year 2000, according to the most recent census figures, 40,000 Vietnamese in Santa Clara County were registered to vote.

In 1983, the first TET Festival was held at San Jose High School and about 10,000 attended.  In 2000, three TET Festivals were held in the Bay Area and hosted nearly 100,000 attendees.

From 1985 to 2000, the population of Vietnamese in Santa Clara County doubled.  Now there are more than 120,000 Vietnamese living here.  The City of San Jose alone is home to 90,000 Vietnamese and has become the largest city population outside of Vietnam. 

 

IRCC IS HAPPY TO BE A PART OF THIS GROWING and THRIVING COMMUNITY!

When the first Vietnamese came to Santa Clara Valley, there were still many fruit orchards with bright yellow mustard plants filling the spaces between the blossoming trees.  In the Vietnamese language, Santa Clara Valley was called “Thung Lung Hoa Vang” – “The Valley of the Yellow Flowers.”  Yellow is the most beloved color to Vietnamese.  But quickly the Valley of the Yellow Flowers became Silicon Valley and the Vietnamese became economically driven.

In 1975, Silicon Valley had fewer that 300 Vietnamese.  In 2005, there are more that 125,000 living here.  Vietnamese businesses have taken over many of the stores of downtown San Jose and created their own financed and developed malls in the suburbs.

 

IRCC, Inc. – the Immigrant Resettlement & Cultural Center – is proud to witness, influence and take part in the historic events that shape this growing and thriving community!

 

OUR DREAM PROJECT AND SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

We want to present to you the opportunity to own a “Timeline of the Pioneer Year of Progress” as you join with us in celebrating the past achievements and future dreams of the community.

“What does owning a year mean?” you may ask.

You, your office or your organization will make a permanent impression on the community by being aligned with our great effort to chronicle and preserve the struggles and triumphs of a demographically significant sector of the community.

You will be recognized, in perpetuity, as a member of the greater community of humankind, through name and identity representation in the Book of Years, media placement as a sponsor for the project launch, and permanent placement in the library/museum and on the website.

This is a golden opportunity to share your vision with the world and support a Dream of the Ages through Year Ownership.

 

Cơ quan IRCC có tên chính thức là Immigrant Resettlement  & Cultural Center, Inc., được thành lập từ năm 1976 với mục đích tiên khởi là trợ giúp vấn đề định cư cho những người tị nạn Việt-Miên-Lào đến Mỹ sau biến cố Cộng Sản thôn tính toàn thể 3 quốc gia Việt Nam, Cambodia và Lao năm 1975. Đến đầu thập niên 90s, IRCC đã mở rộng dịch vụ tới tất cả mọi sắc dân tị nạn hay di dân đến từ khắp nơi trên thế giới.

Hoạt động liên tục từ đó cho đến nay, cơ quan IRCC đã trực tiếp cung cấp những dịch vụ do chính phủ Liên Bang, Tiểu Bang và Quận Santa Clara thuộc Tiểu Bang California tài trợ, bao gồm dịch vụ dạy Anh Ngữ ESL, tìm việc làm, hướng dẫn nghề nghiệp, dạy nghề cho những ngườI mới đến, hay cho những người có lợi tức thấp, hoặc đang hưởng trợ cấp xã hội. Từ năm 1976 cho đến năm 2006, IRCC đã nhận được trên 12 triệu Mỹ Kim tài trợ để giúp cho hơn 25,000 gia đình thuộc diện kể trên.

Bên cạnh những hoạt động do chính phủ tài trợ, cơ quan IRCC cũng đã làm nhiều công việc xã hội tự nguyện do ngân khoản tự kiếm được qua những việc làm thêm về truyền hình, truyền thanh, phát hành sách báo, DVD, v.v…

Cơ quan IRCC cũng trực tiếp hay gián tiếp đóng góp nhiều công sức trong việc xây dựng nên cộng đồng người Việt phồn thịnh tại vùng Vịnh Cựu Kim Sơn (Bay Area) và thành phố San Jose qua những hoạt động tranh đấu cho quyền lợi và tiếng nói của cộng đồng, giúp phát triển nhiều hội đoàn, nhiều nhóm thiện nguyện, tổ chức những ngày lễ hội văn hoá, hay yểm trợ những sinh hoạt tuổI trẻ.

Sau đây là 3 chức năng chính của cơ quan IRCC và 2 dự án cộng đồng đang thực hiện.