About Us
WHO WE ARE
HEVY is a Massachusetts based nonprofit organization that partners with Shriner's Hospital to provide education and medical care to Vietnamese youth. We work to identify children up to age 18 in Vietnam who have suffered from medical conditions and do not have access to adequate medical care and empower them by providing healthcare and education.
Our Roots: Joe Bodanza
Health & Education for Vietnamese Youth (HEVY) was established in 2017 to carry on the mission of Joe Bodanza, who passed in 2016.
When Joe Bodanza first visited Vietnam, he encountered a young boy severely crippled by polio. Struck by the child's plight, Bodanza paid for a plane ticket to the United States and arranged for the boy's medical treatment. That act of charity was the beginning of a mission, and since that first trip, Bodanza had brought 50 Vietnamese children to the Worcester and Boston area for medical care.
In June of 1999, Bodanza received the "Heroes Among Us" award for his efforts. This award, sponsored by the Boston Celtics Charitable Foundation, honors individuals across New England who have made exceptional and lasting contributions to their communities.
He founded the Child Medical Connection and carried his mission for many years until his passing in 2016.
In honor of Joe Bodanza, Thuy Trask, Tom Mathers and Glenn Hartmann established Health & Education for Vietnamese Youth to carry on his legacy.
Child Medical Condition
Child Medical Connection’s mission was to identify Vietnamese children who had severe medical conditions that were un-treatable in Vietnam. “Mr. Joe”, as the children in Vietnam would call him would sponsor the child and guardian to the U.S. for medical treatment at Shriner's Hospital in Boston, MA.
In his later years, Joe provided many Vietnamese children with educational assistance. He helped hundreds of Vietnamese youth to receive medical and educational assistance.
"They’re outstanding children. All they needed was a chance in life, a chance to show that they can do it. That they can get ahead, they are important, they’re people and that they have some value. They are worth, life is worth living for them. Before they come here, it’s not true for any of them. They have no hope, they don’t care, they just move along like a zombie, but you see by the time they’re through, they’re in college or whatever and they feel good about themselves, that’s the main thing.”
—Joe Bodanza, founder of Child Medical Connection
