Mission

We remove barriers to opportunities so immigrant and refugee communities can flourish without compromising values, heritage or ethnicity.

History

Kandelia, formerly known as the Vietnamese Friendship Association (VFA), was launched in the 1970s to support Vietnamese immigrants and refugees by responding to short-term resettlement needs. Over the years, we expanded to meet the needs of all immigrant and refugee communities by focusing on youth development, education and whole family support in order to help our communities thrive. Today, we provide direct programs, opportunities, and tools to address systemic inequities so that immigrant and refugee families can flourish without having to compromise their values, heritage or ethnicity.

Values

Inclusion

• We embrace diversity and believe all people have value and the right to belong.
• We are committed to active listening and being open to questioning our assumptions in order to include a diverse set of voices and viewpoints.

Heart

• We measure our success, not by the boxes we tick, but by the real difference we make in people’s lives. And we have fun along the way.
• We act with care, empathy, and kindness for each other and those we work with

Equity

• We believe in just and fair inclusion, working toward all people reaching their full potential.
• We identify inequities and take responsibility for addressing them.

Relationships

• We build strong connections with each other, our partners, communities and the people we serve.
• We act in the spirit of collaboration and understanding to break down barriers and work together for the common good.

Excellence

• We strive to be the best we can be in all we do, while being vigilant in knowing that each individual is also responsible for the success of the whole.
• We apply discipline, organization and professionalism to our daily work together.