'I'm retiring from my job, but not my community': Montagnard leader stepping down after 30 years

Past the young girl holding a sign with "Tu drong diih hong klei khop" or "Welcome, with love," the disembarking passengers were soon enveloped by a band, Special Forces honor guard, network news cameras broadcasting across the country and hundreds of people cheering them on to their new home.

It was a concert, a people parade, said Hlong, who's full name is pronounced E-see-you Ha-long.

"We were in the jungle for 12 years — some people for 30 years — and they welcomed us like heroes," Hlong recalled. "For a guy who had been fighting in the jungle, I couldn’t believe, it made me cry."

The Montagnards had been allies of American soldiers fighting an unpopular war in Vietnam.

Their knowledge of geography and the jungles would help the Americans navigate the terrain, with Montagnards serving as interpreters, scouts and soldiers alongside U.S. troops.

They were discovered when they approached the country's border with Thailand to ask Americans for help — not knowing that U.S. participation in the war had ended a decade earlier.

"You fought beside us and some of your families and friends died for us," then-Lt. Gov. Bob Jordan told those who arrived at Piedmont Triad International Airport that day in 1986.

Hlong, the former Montagnard freedom fighter who would first serve as a volunteer and then lead the nonprofit Montagnard Dega Association begun after their arrival, is retiring after 30 years as executive director. The organization would serve to support the resettlement of Montagnards, and later other groups, as they navigated new lives, while strengthening and preserving their cultural heritage.

While the community's elders worked with others to start the nonprofit association, Hlong helped make it into an integral part of the larger community. The Montagnard nonprofit has worked with local hospitals, community groups and the police for everything from translating to case management even when funding was largely non-existent.

So the staff and members of the community decided to mark his retirement with a special fundraising campaign and held a day of celebration on Aug. 15. The "Dr. YSiu Hlong Emergency Fund" honors his service, dedication, and desire to see the refugee community prosper.

The money will be used to add a crisis intervention person to the staff and provide resources to vulnerable community members, elders, women, and others who don’t qualify for available services but need help right away. The largest community of Montagnard refugees outside of Southeast Asia lives in Guilford County.

"Over the years he’s answered so many emergency calls, trips to the ER and accident sites, and other 2 a.m. cries for help that we thought the best way to honor his legacy is to recognize his work," said Liana Adrong, the nonprofit's administrative coordinator and social worker who succeeds him.

'A steady presence'

Hlong is quiet and patient with a calming demeanor that draws attention.

"He is the most humble person you'd ever find," said Raleigh Bailey, the founding director of the Center for New North Carolinians, who also oversaw the AmeriCorps Accessing Cross Cultural Education Service Systems Project, of which Hlong would become a participant.

Hlong, for example, wouldn't be the one to tell Bailey, also a long-serving board member, about earning a doctorate degree in ministry from John Wesley University.

Hlong had also been among the most faithful to the Americans. He was among the front-line fighters who kept up the fighting as the Americans were evacuated.

When the soldiers left in 1973, the government had promised not to abandon them, Hlong recalled.

"They said they would come back and supply us," Hlong said. "We kept looking and looking and looking."

The Special Forces, which are based in Fort Bragg, true to their word, kept lobbying elected officials to do something.

Once the United States and the United Nations gave Montagnards refugee resettlement status, they were sent to a refugee camp in the Philippines for a six-month orientation before coming to North Carolina.

Another group of 400 would join them in the early 1990s, including some family members of the earlier 200.

Also in the crowd at the airport to welcome that first group were the resettlement agencies, sponsor churches and former Green Berets, who were able to make it back home with the Montagnards' help during the Vietnam War, and who all had a hand in getting them here and helping to secure them homes and jobs.

Some of the Montagnards on that flight were later sent to Raleigh and others to Charlotte, where those communities could help absorb them.

At first, Hlong said, he worried about what life would be like in the United States, even what kind of food he would eat. Even before they left the hotel in Los Angeles for the five-hour flight here, he was missing family back home. He and a cousin had come together.

He knew others felt the same, which was the bond that held them together, as they faced the new land together.

Hlong, who was in his early 30s when he arrived, began studying for his GED while working at a factory job, while most of the other new arrivals were taking English as a second language classes.

He started volunteering at the Montagnard association right away.  It did not matter who had the title of executive director. He was handling calls, going to the doctor and court with people who needed someone to translate and provide cultural interpretation.

"He was there to help people," Bailey said.

Part of that goes back to a culture of taking care of the elderly, Bailey said.

"It was also a religious calling," Bailey said of Hlong's Christian faith beliefs to do for others.

In 1995, Bailey's ACCESS group had its first group of 24 AmeriCorps members. Hlong was among them and allowed to work through the Montagnard association. After he completed his AmeriCorps term of service, he continued to serve there. Sometimes he was part of the staff when there were grants available for personnel, and other times he volunteered, Bailey said. Eventually, Hlong became executive director.

"Dr. Hlong — we call him 'Uncle' — has been a steady presence in our community who has helped so many families facing desperate situations when they come here,” Adrong said.

She knows firsthand.

When she was a teenager she had a medical crisis that landed her in the ER.

"My father called YSiu and YSiu was at the hospital helping my dad because he didn't speak English," Adrong said.

He had also helped the family with green cards and getting fingerprinted for official paperwork.

"I'm so grateful for that," Adrong said of the help.

Even now, Adrong is often asking people in the office, and even her family members, to chip in for a co-pay or emergency.

Already, it's keeping her up at night.

"We don't take this responsibility lightly," said Adrong, who continues to seek help from grants, agencies and the community.

She saw Hlong trying to solve those emergencies as well.

"My goal was to make all the Montagnards self-sufficient and independent," Hlong said. "But right now, I see a lot of homelessness, the elderly who cannot work."

Those who did not become American citizens also are not eligible for Social Security, even though they may have paid into the system.

The Montagnard agency would help to welcome each group and continue reuniting families, providing care for the elderly who didn't have relatives nearby. They are often the first stop Montagnards make when they have to enroll children in school or apply for citizenship or their first jobs. The agency has continued to see creating community among the various tribes and language groups while preserving traditions and celebrating achievements as a major responsibility.

What's heartened Hlong is that he sees Montagnard offspring who went on to college to earn degrees to better themselves, are now putting those skills to work in their community.

"I really appreciate that," Hlong said

Adrong, for example, was asked to lead the agency when Hlong decided to retire.

"This is my way of giving back while I can," said Adrong, who has a master's degree in social work. "I feel like I have to be here."

In recent years, the group has taken on other ethnic refugees and receives some government funding for helping them resettle. The Montagnard association, which is recognized by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services as a refugee service provider, has over the years expanded to include a youth branch, research network and community advisory council.

They continue to serve Montagnards, whether the Montagnards are officially eligible for services or not. They also serve Congolese, Bhutanese, Iraqis, or whomever is coming to the Greensboro area as refugees as part of a financial agreement with the state. The Montagnard association also works in partnership with other agencies including New Arrivals Institute, American Friends Service Committee, Church World Service and others.

As government funding has declined, so has funding for staff.

Bailey said that in his later years Hlong only took 10% of his salary, although he spent almost all of his time continuing to serve his community.

The small amount of government funding for staff salaries went mainly for other key staff, according to the agency's tax returns, with the bulk of the agency's money coming from gifts and contributions.

Despite the pandemic, the agency also did not shut down and continued with a range of services that include securing basic needs to providing interpretation during doctor visits and filling out college applications. They served nearly 1,000 clients for the fiscal year ending in June 2020. They also continue to give out fresh vegetables donated to the organization each Monday.

Now 65, Hlong wants to spend time in his garden growing tomatoes and other produce. He is officially listed as a volunteer of the agency.

"I'm retiring from my job," Hlong said, "but not my community."