Vietnamese Friendship Association

Staff bios :::  Board members :::   Partners and supporters

Welcome to the Vietnamese Friendship Association (VFA). We are a small organization working to help our community while sharing and bridging our rich and diverse cultures. Below are more details about our history and mission, as well as bios of our staff and board members, and a list of partners. This website, like VFA itself, is constantly improving. Please feel free to contact us to offer any feedback you think would be beneficial to our organization and the communities we serve. Thank you. And please stop by often!

History: The Vietnamese Friendship Association (VFA) was formed in 1978 to respond to short-term resettlement needs facing Vietnamese refugees in Seattle. We achieved this mission by providing information and referral, housing, ESL classes, job placement, interpretation and translation services for low-income families. Over the past five years, our programs have focused on supporting children, youth, and parents in education, leadership, community development, self-reliance, and cultural preservation. VFA also advocates on behalf of the community of Seattle for the fair and equitable education of Vietnamese youth and students. Please visit the Programs tab for more details.

Mission: To empower the Vietnamese community to succeed while bridging, preserving, and promoting cultural heritage.

Vision: We envision a society where all members of the Vietnamese community are self-reliant, successful, and contributing to the betterment of our world

Values: VFA staff and board strive to adhere to these values: 

• Quality. We will strive constantly to improve the quality of our programs and our organization.
• Integrity. We will have integrity and transparency in everything that we do. We will admit our mistakes and always learn from them.
• Respect. We will have respect for all people, regardless of backgrounds.
• Helpfulness. We will always help those we can, and we will be kind to everyone we meet, even if we cannot currently meet their needs with our programs.
• Responsiveness. We will always be timely, responsive, and approachable. We will be where our clients are.
• Collaboration. We will do everything with the spirit of collaboration, teamwork, and community.