MARIA: MAY IS ASIAAMN ERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE MONTH. AND WE CONTINUE TO HIGHLIGHT PEOPLE AND PLACES THAT MAKE OUR COMMUNITY CULTURALLY RICH AND DIVERSE. THE EYEOPENER’S ANTOINETTE ANTONIO TAKES US TO A BOSTON NEIGHBORHOOD OFFICIAYLL DESIGNATED LITTLE SAIGON BY THE STATE. SHE EXPLNSAI WHAT THAT MEANSOR F THE AREA AND HOW IT’S HELPING THEM AS WE COME OUT OF THE PANDEMIC. ANTOINETTE: PULL INTO THIS STRETCH OF DORCHESTER AVE, THERE’S NO OFFICALIGN S WELCOMING YOU TO BOSTON’S LITTLE SAIGON, BUT AT THE SAME TIME THEY ARE EVEWHRYE.ER >> WE HAVE JUST SEEN TREMENDOUS DEVELOPMENT, TREMENDOUS GROW,TH AND JUST A LOT OF VIETNAMESE BUSINESSES POPPING UP. ANTOINETTE: AMONG THOSE BUSINESSES IS PHO HOA, WHICH TAM LE’S FATHER OPENED UP IN 9219 , HAVING FLED VIETNAM A DECADE EARLIER. NO RESTAANURT EXPERIENCE, TNO EVEN THE COOK IN THE FAMILY, BUT HE TOOK A CHANCE IN A NEIGHBORHOOD THAT, AT THE TIME, HAD JUST A COUPLE OTHER VIETNAMESE OWNED BUSINESS.SE THAT HAS CERTAINLY CHANGED OVER THE LAST 30 YEARS. >> WHEN YOU HAVE A SUPERMARKET THAT’S VIETNAMESE, YOUR RESTAURANT, YOUR DENTIST, SO YOU HAVE ALL THESE SERVICES WHERE IF YOU COME OVER FROM VIETNAM AND YOU CAN’T NECESSARILY SPEAK ENGLISH YET, YOU CAN HAVE ALL YOUR SERVICES MET. SO WE HAVE CREATED THIS NEIGHBORHOOD COMMUNITY OF VIETNAMESE PEOPLE. ANTOINETTE: HIS DAD HAS SINCE RETIRED,ND T AAM HAS TEAMED UP WITH NEW CO-OWNER, VICTORIA NGUYEN, WHONO THIS DAY IS SERVING UP ONE OF SEVEN COURSES OF BEEF. YOU WILL HAVE TO SHOW ME, I DON’T KNOW HOTO DW O THIS. A POPULAR MENU ITEM COOKED AND ASSEMBLED RIGHT AT THE TAB.LE THERE YOU GO, LOOK AT THAT. I DID IT ALL ON MY OWN. ALONG WITH STEAMING HOT BOWLS OF PHO, A CLASSIC VIETNAMESE NOLEOD SOUP. AT THE HEIGHT OF THE PANDEMIC THOUGH, THE FOOD WASN’T FLOWING AS STEADILY. BUSINESSES STRUGGLED JUST TO pSURVIVE. BUT A BIT OF GOOD NEWS FOR THE NEIGHBORHOOD DURING THAT TIME, THE DESIGNATION OF THE BOSTON LITTLE SAIGON CULTURAL DISTRICT. >> IT IS JUST MORE OF A FORMALIZED DESIGNATION IN THE ENTIRE STATE FOR HAVING A LITTLE VIETNAMESE CULTURAL DISTRICT THAT FOCUSES ON ARTS AND BUSINESS SUPPORTS. ANTOINETTE: AT A TIME WHEN SO MUCH MONEY WAS BEING LOST,HE T DESIGNATION FROM THE MASS CULTURAL COUNCIL IN MAY OF021 2 ALSO ALLOWS FOR STATE FUNDING, NOT JUST FOR BUSINESSES, BUT FOR BEAUTIFICATION AND COMMUNITY PROGRAMS AS .LLWE A PILLAR IN THIS COMMUNITY, VIET AID, THE VIETNAMESE AMERICAN INITIATIVE FOR DEVELOPMENT. >> BOSTON LITTLE SAIGON IN DORCHESTER CONTINUES TO WELCOME NEW IMMIGRANTS FROM VIETMNA EVERY ARYE. FROM MY OWN LIVED EXPERIENCE, I CAME TO THE UNITED STATES WHEN I WAS SIX, MY PARENTS DIDN’T KNOW ANY ENGLISH, SO HAD WE LIVED IN A PLACE LIKE DORCHESR TEWE COULD GO SOMEWHERE TO GET SERVIC.ES ANTOINETTE: BACK AT PHO HOA AND REIGN DRINK LAB NEXT DOOR, ALSO OWNED BY TAM LE, A MURAL OUTSIDE REMINDING THIS COMMUNITY OF THE JOURNEY FROM VTNIEAM SO MANY ENDURED AND THEIR LEGACY THAT IS CARRIED ON IN BOSTON. >> I THINK PART OF BEING ASI,AN WHETHER YOU’RE FILIPINO OR VIETNAMESE, IT IS REALLY HAVING APPRECTIIAON FOR OUR OPPORTUNITIES TODAY AND KNOWING THAT WE ONLY HAVE THESE OPPORTUNITIES BECAUSE OF THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE . I THINK THOSE CORE PRINCIPLES IS WHAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT. ANTOINET:TE ANOTHER WAY THEY’RE HOPING TO DRAW MORE CUSTOMERS AND TOURISTS TO THE AREA BOSTON LITTLE SAIGON ADVISORY BOARD IS WORKING ON HAVING A NIGHT MARKET THIS SUMMER. THEY’RE HOPING FOR CITY APPROVAL FOR AN OPEN NEWBURY STYLE EVTEN ON DORCHESTER AVE, FOOT TRAFFIC ONLY, FEATURING ENTERTAINMENT AND FOOD FROM SEVERAL DIFFERENT ASIAN CULTURES, ALL IN ONE SRTHO LITTLE WAL