Working together for Hmong community outreach
By: Jay Clark 04/01/2011
Congratulations to the Patrick Henry High Asian Club (ACC) in collaboration with the Victory Neighborhood Association (ViNA) for 
their joint proposal to more fully involve the community at Patrick Henry and provide extensive outreach to the Hmong Community. On March 9 they were awarded a $10,000 grant through the University of Minnesota Center for Urban and Regional Affairs with money generously provided by the McKnight Foundation.
The partnership started when ViNA approached the ACC for help and guidance in identifying and engaging the Asian elders in the community. Many Victory residents had also expressed an interest in closer involvement with Patrick Henry High School and an interest in engaging their Asian neighbors in the life of the neighborhood and in their block clubs.
Henry Asian Club members said that to get Hmong elders involved in wider community activities, it was important for non-Hmong residents to come to Asian events. VINA and ACC decided to work hard to invite the wider community to the Henry High May Show, and to have a May show that would introduce and educate residents to the cultures of their Asian neighbors. VINA will promote the event in the wider neighborhood and encourage non-Asian residents to attend. The May show will include a meal of traditional Hmong foods, and Hmong and non-Hmong residents will break bread together and get to know each other. Henry Asian Club students will serve as translators when needed.
This summer VINA will be hiring two Henry Asian Club Hmong students to help identify and do outreach to Hmong families in the Victory neighborhood. They will be inviting Hmong families to VINA's June Ice Cream Social, and will also help connect them to residents involved in their block club. Ultimately VINA and their Henry Hmong summer organizers hope to get each Asian family to participate in the National Night Out activities on their block and to feel comfortable communicating with ViNA about their issues and priorities living in the neighborhood and the City of Minneapolis. The partnership will also be working hard to put out the welcome mat for Henry High's neighbors.