ICAN Programs

Read more about our various culturally responsive and humanitarian programs →

  • ICAN's Early Childhood Programs offer a holistic approach to optimal development in children aged 0 to 5. Our dedicated facilitators prioritize a nurturing environment by bridging generational and cultural gaps between caregivers and children. The programs aim to stimulate curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking. Through constructive workshops, ICAN fosters a positive and supportive atmosphere, empowering children with a headstart in their personal and academic journey.


    See our Early Childhood Programs

  • ICAN's Youth and Young Adult Programs empower individuals in their formative years, focusing on personal growth, skill development, and community engagement. Our scholarship program, career development opportunities, and mental health support circle provide essential support. Through social impact projects, we foster civic engagement, preparing young individuals to navigate their educational, professional, and personal journeys confidently.

    See our Youth and Young Adult Programs

  • ICAN's Family and Community Programs foster unity and resilience. Our family workshops promote open communication and effective parenting, while community events encourage positive social interactions. Educational initiatives equip individuals with life skills, promoting empowerment and self-sufficiency. Through these efforts, ICAN strives to create thriving families and connected communities.

    See our Families and Communities Program

  • ICAN's Community-Based Research Programs drive positive change by collaboratively exploring and addressing local challenges. Grounded in community engagement, these initiatives empower our communities through research, inform decision-making, and advocate for evidence-based solutions. ICAN is dedicated to translating research into impactful change, fostering sustainable development at the grassroots level.

    See our Community-Based Research Programs

  • ICAN's Humanitarian Programs drive positive global impact by addressing social issues, providing swift disaster relief, and fostering sustainable development. Through strategic partnerships, we deliver aid efficiently and work towards long-term solutions in education, healthcare, and economic empowerment. ICAN is dedicated to creating positive and lasting change, ensuring that everyone has the opportunity for a dignified and fulfilled life.

    See our Humanitarian Programs

EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS

  • Happy 5

    Happy 5 is a 6-week public education program with parenting workshops focused on encouraging safe and nurturing parenting techniques, bridging cultural gaps, and promoting discussion of child abuse/neglect to help children gain maximum development in the first five years.

  • SEEDS

    SEEDS (Sensitive, Encouragement, Education, Development through Self Image) is a workshop geared towards Vietnamese American parents to educate them about the importance of a child’s developing years (ages 0-5) and prepare them with the necessary tools to help their child succeed in the American education system.

  • Storytime Program

    During Story Time, our leaders create stories that include shapes, colors, and numbers in order to help children develop different parts of their brains. They will also be given the opportunity to participate in arts and crafts, which will help hone their motor skills. ICAN also performs ASQ (Age and Stages Questionnaires) to asses the growth of the children.

  • Triple P

    Triple P (Positive Parenting Program) is a workshop that educates Vietnamese American parents about positive discipline and building healthy parental relationships, with the added challenge of raising children in America and still keeping traditional values.

  • 1000 Books Before Kinder

    Have children under the age of 5? Join 1000 Books Before Kinder, a culturally sensitive reading program for children in our community to create and reach reading goals while also participating in cultural history lessons!

YOUTH AND YOUNG ADULT PROGRAMS

  • ICAN Inspire Scholarship

    Apply for our scholarship program for Vietnamese-American high school and undergraduate college students in the communities in the North Bay. We aim to award ICAN INSPIRE scholarships of a maximum of $4000 for 4 years for full-time undergraduate students at an accredited 4-year university ($1000 per year up to 4 years) or for community college ($500 per year up to 4 years).

  • ICAN Internships

    The summer internship is for high school or college students of Vietnamese descent who are not only proactive and willing to learn on the job but also want to give back to the community. Students will be working first-hand with the staff of ICAN to work on childcare and youth development programs, Vietnamese community projects, and other events that benefit our Vietnamese-American community.

  • Youth Financial Literacy

    Introduction to lifelong investment principles and habits. Workshops consisting of:

    • Financial habits

    • Investment principles

    • Life cycle planning

    • Virtual stock market game in teams

    • Real money to invest in the real world as a prize

  • WISE

    For all youth ages 15-25! WISE is ICAN’s summer wellness initiative that includes comprehensive sessions covering a spectrum of topics, such as mental health, practical financial literacy skills, career exploration (with a special company tour field trip), and personal development strategies.

  • Youth Healing Circle

    Let's Talk Mental Health & Self Care! 🌟 The Youth Healing Circle is one of ICAN's most popular youth programs that we hold with a licensed clinical social worker, and it covers different topics about mental health such as stress management, healthy coping mechanisms, creating healthy habits, and more!

FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIIES

  • Preventing Human Trafficking & Gender-Based Violence

    ICAN is funded by Santa Clara County to provide services that will help prevent human trafficking and gender-based violence in the Vietnamese community through community education and awareness that includes a needs assessment, training (staff, other community based organizations, community partners, youth leaders, parent workshops, and community outreach and educational workshops.

  • Parent Café

    Our Parent Cafe program is a series of guided workshops that discuss a new topic in each session, designed to nurture the spirit of family. This is a peer-to-peer learning process that fosters meaningful relationships while empowering participants to exercise healthy practices.

  • Family Relationships and Communication

    A 6-week program with parenting workshops focused on understanding ages and stages of adolescent development, identifying domestic violence, problem solving skills, and improving communication with their teenagers to move toward a healthy relationship.

  • Homeless Prevention System (HPS)

    The Homelessness Prevention System (HPS) program provides financial assistance (e.g. rent, deposit, or utilities payment) to low-income families or individuals who are struggling to maintain their housing.

  • Digital Inclusion Program

    The Digital Inclusion program promotes equity and improves educational outcomes, promotes job acquisition and advancement, improves mental and physical health options, and allows San Jose residents to be more efficient and effective.

  • Radio Talk

    Tune in every Saturday from 3:00-3:30 PM on the 1500 AM radio to hear about topics ranging from school readiness to your child's health. Live shows are scheduled on the first Saturday of each month.

  • Women's Support Group

    Designed to provide a safe environment and clinical support needed to assist Vietnamese women, including survivors of domestic violence, in sharing, reframing, and addressing issues related to parenting, marriage, relationship, safety, and more.

HUMANITARIAN PROGRAMS

  • ICAN Dream K-12 & College Scholarships

    ICAN provides scholarship to orphans and poor students in Vietnam to help them obtain the education that would help them brighten their future. Pictured are three young doctors (Hải Đăng, Thiện Hảo, and Đặng Thị Thu Hằng) currently working in major hospitals in Hue, Vietnam who nearly dropped out of school due to the difficult circumstances of their families. ICAN chose to help and empowered these children to fulfill their dreams! The happy graduates are joined by Ms. Nga Ivy Vuong (second from the right) representing the ICAN DREAM Scholarship Program.

  • 100 Bikes

    This program engages students in the US to raise money to buy bikes for disadvantaged children in Vietnam so they can get to school and complete their education. This project provides an opportunity for Vietnamese-American students to give back and to connect to their cultural roots.

  • Eye Surgeries for the Elderly

    ICAN provides free cataract surgeries to poor elders in Vietnam so they can continue to be the foundation of love, guidance, and support for their families, especially their grandchildren.

COMMUNITY BASED RESEARCH

  • ARISE

    ARISE is a research project aimed at studying the effects of multi-level discrimination on cognitive performance and Alzheimer's Disease biomarkers within the Chinese American, Korean American, and Vietnamese American populations aged 65 years old and older.

  • VIP

    The Vietnamese Insights into Aging Program (VIP) is a five-year research project that aims to understand how factors impact thinking and memory in the Vietnamese American community. The program also seeks to better understand disparities in health and research in the community. VIP is the first known study to enroll a prospective cohort of Vietnamese Americans to study early life factors and cognitive aging.

  • South Vietnam: Memories and Perspectives

    This project commemorates the process refugees and immigrants in South Vietnam went through to, eventually becoming Vietnamese Americans. Members of the Vietnamese community in the San Jose area recorded their stories in the form of images and written passages to preserve their experiences for future generations

  • Vietnamese Americans for Cleaner Air

    The goal of this project is to increase awareness and understanding about air quality and its impact on people’s health in the Vietnamese community in Santa Clara county (San Jose area) through one-on-one community outreach, community forums, ethnic media, social media, as well as building a cohort of Air Quality Ambassadors. This project is funded by a grant from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

  • BREATHE California

    BREATHE California of the Bay Area fights lung disease in all its forms and works with its communities to promote lung health. They envision a world that promotes healthy lungs and a healthy environment. Learn more about them at their website by clicking the link below!

  • CARE Research Registry 2.0

    Our goal is to register 10,000 API (Asian Pacific Islanders) including 2500 Vietnamese individuals into a registry database of people who are interested in participating in community-based research. If you or someone you know is interested in participating, please contact ICAN’s office. We are currently in the seond partof the research.

  • PCORI

    We seek to engage and serve all Vietnamese American Alzheimer’s Disease-Related Dementia (ADRD) caregivers and stakeholders in the Vietnamese American community. Our hope is for them to gain knowledge about dementia, caregiving, and advanced directives to better inform their healthcare decisions.

  • SPHERE

    ICAN is proud to help strengthen the voice of Vietnamese Americans in the area of research so that culturally competent strategies and services can be documented to serve Vietnamese communities around the world better.

  • COMPASS

    We serve all Asian/Pacific Islanders living in the United States who are interested in community-based research.

PREVIOUS PROGRAMS

  • ICAN Help

    Over the past month, thanks to the direct organization of Master Thich Chon Tinh, ICAN has been able to provide thousands of gratitude gifts, worth nearly $30,000 USD, to our impoverished compatriots, needy children, blind and disabled people- who have been significantly impacted by the terrible pandemic that humanity is facing. Recently, ICAN also sent 12,000 N95 medical masks to Vietnam to aid medical personnel who have been working nonstop for almost two years with limited supplies.

  • Breath of Life

    ICAN provides Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machines to hospitals in Vietnam to save lives of premature newborns and infants suffering from respiratory distress.

  • Relief Aid

    ICAN helps victims of natural disasters in the U.S. and around the world get back on their feet.

  • ADAPT - Child Trafficking Prevention

    ICAN has been supporting the ADAPT program (led by Pacific Links Foundation) that aims to keep at-risk girls in school to prevent them from being trafficked across Vietnam’s borders. The program has 3 components: scholarships, vocational training and reintegration.