According to Census 2000 statistics, approximately 18,000 Vietnamese live in Boston and Greater Boston; some 10,000 live in the Boston neighborhood of Dorchester.
In the past, most Vietnamese have come to the United States as refugees in waves of immigration that occurred from the mid to late seventies to the early nineties, but increasingly, more come as immigrants seeking to make a better life for themselves and their family members. Most of the clients we serve at VACA are low-income, working-poor families who have minimum English language skills. Increasingly, we are seeing clients come to us who have had minimum education in their native Vietnam.
