News

Grant helps Hmong start summer flea market

By Heather Chrudimsky
Compass Correspondent

When a new international flea market opens this May on the westside of Green Bay it will be the result, in part, from diocesan Catholics' contributions to the annual Catholic Campaign for Human Development.

Donations will be sought this weekend to the Catholic Campaign for Human Development as part of the annual Collection for the World's Poor, which also benefits Peter's Pence and Catholic Relief Services.

Last year, the Green Bay Diocese awarded the United Hmong Community Center a $7,000 Catholic Campaign for Human Development grant to offer classes for food vendors to prepare them for the upcoming International Flea Market.

"The grant was a great opportunity for the United Hmong Community Center," said Blong Vang, project coordinator with the Center.

Br. Steve Herro, O.Praem., local director of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, said the United Hmong Center, in collaboration with the Brown County Food and Hunger Network and Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, received the local Catholic Campaign Human Development grant because it designed a program to teach low income Hmong refugees how to process, prepare, cook and market their homegrown crops.

Vang said the program and partnerships have been a great help to the Hmong community.

"This isn't something that just happened over night with the grant," said Karen Early, nutrition education coordinator with the Brown County Extension Service. She and Cathy Huntowski, nutrition educator with the Extension Service, wrote the grant proposal for CCHD funding.

The Extension Service has been working with the United Hmong Community Center for the past 3½ years with the help of a USDA grant. The $7,000 CCHD grant helped the program continue to move forward and start the International Flea Market, Early said.

"This is a perfect example of a grant to promote economic development," Br. Herro said. "It is especially meaningful that Catholic Campaign for Human Development has funded this project. The local Catholic Church has been instrumental in the resettlement of the Hmong refugees. The grant also indicates that our church remains committed and connected to the Hmong community."

Catholic Campaign for Human Development, or CCHD, is the domestic anti-poverty arm of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. CCHD was established in 1970 to support projects that help low income people lift themselves from poverty through self-help economic development and community organizing. A second purpose is education to help everyone better understand poverty in the United States.

Br. Herro said the training was a collaboration between food industry professionals from Northeast Wisconsin Technical College and the Hmong Center.

"I laud NWTC for being such a great partner in the plan," Br. Herro said.

"NWTC provides the instruction, and we (the United Hmong Community Center) provide the facility," Vang said. Thirty-five people have gone through the training program.

The training sparked the idea of starting an International Flea Market this summer so the new trainees could use their skills.

The International Flea Market will benefit Hmong and Latino entrepreneurs, Vang said. "It's something to help the new entrepreneurs of our community try to go out on their own."

Green Bay city officials hope the International Flea Market will help bring more people to the Broadway area.

Vang said the only similar event in the state is the Seven-Mile Fair in Caledonia, near Milwaukee. Vang said he got the idea for starting an International Flea Market from his experience with similar events. For the past 18 years, Vang has worked with events and festivals nationwide, including helping to set up a similar market in St. Paul, Minn.

"It's a project for minorities in the area to get a start," Vang said.

Br. Herro said the grant is important because it has clearly helped the Hmong growers achieve the next level of economic stability. "The grant will help small, lower-income workers move to a higher standard of living," he said.

The International Flea Market will be held in the lot under the Don A. Tilleman Bridge, off Broadway in downtown Green Bay. Vang expects 60-70 vendors for the market, which will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays from May through October.

The flea market will include produce, crafts, toys, clothing, health products and entertainment. Vendors will be charged a $10 daily fee by the International Flea Market organization. However, for at least the first year the city will not charge market organizers. Instead, the proceeds will go to the United Hmong Community Center. If the event is successful, market organizers may be charged a rental fee in the future.

Vang said he is looking forward to the market's opening and hopes for a good turnout all summer. He said is working with area businesses to find an indoor location so the market could operate year-round.

The United Hmong Community Center, at 401 9th St., Green Bay, is offering eight programs for Hmongs of all ages. An entrepreneur banquet was recently held at the Community Center for interested Hmong residents.

"The Center is really busy now," Vang said.