Ensuring quality education for Hmong children

KIMT NEWS 3 - Hmong refugees began coming to Minnesota in the 1970s. Today, there are more than 66,000 Hmong in the state - and the Twin Cities metro is home to the largest concentration of Hmong in the country.

The Hmong Early Childhood Coalition (HECC) began as a once-a-year summit to present research related to the education gap and how it affected Hmong children in Minnesota.

As of November, HECC is now a certified non-profit that has been able to provide more education and advocacy to our kids.

Up until three years ago, everyone involved with HECC was working on a volunteer bases, which limited their reach.

Then, HECC received the "Community Solutions Grant," which really expanded the scope of work and people they reached to empower Hmong families.

HECC translates research into lay language, identifies barriers that prevent families from access resources, and holds trainings and community conversations about what the community chooses.

The pandemic and immunizations have been popular topics throughout COVID-19.

"Mental health was a topic that was brought up a lot in our community, especially during the pandemic," said HECC Training Coordinator Bao Vang. "So, we talked about mental health, we talked about ways to strategize that parents could support their children, that parents themselves could feel supported and we talked about well-being. We talked about school readiness, what does that look like and how do we navigate the school system in the pandemic?"

The "Community Solutions Grant" is ending at the end of the fiscal year, and Vang says right now - HECC is trying to secure more funding. She says regardless, though, HECC will continue to provide these resources to Hmong families because that's where they're heart is.

HECC is also working toward creating a parenting education section of its training, as our parents are often our first teachers.