EngAGE Stories

You may know about actress Tippi Hedren’s career (most notably, she starred in “The Birds” and “Marnie”), and you may have heard about her involvement in the protection of exotic animals (she founded and remains active with The Shambala Preserve, a sanctuary for large cats), but you probably don’t know about her involvement in helping establish a career path for Vietnamese refugees in California in the 1970s.

“Forty years ago, the Hollywood actor traveled to Hope Village, a Vietnamese refugee camp near Sacramento, California, to meet with a group of women who had recently fled the takeover of South Vietnam by the armed forces of Communist leader Ho Chi Minh. Hedren was aware of the difficulties the refugees had faced and had been trying before her visit to think of a skill or trade she could help the women learn so they could support themselves in their adopted country. When she met with the group, she was surprised to find they were enamored with her manicure. . . . Hedren flew in her own beautician and enlisted a local beauty school to teach 20 of the women how to execute the perfect manicure.”

Read more about how this blossomed into a significant employment opportunity for Vietnamese in California. Today, 80 percent of nail technicians in Southern California are Vietnamese (51 percent across the U.S.). Tippi Hedren is now 85.

Funding programs that allow seniors to age in place is cost-effective; however, Congress has not reauthorized these programs since 2010. We urge you to contact your elected officials and insist that they pass a reauthorization. Learn more in this 5:22 video.