NCVA REPORTER
- December 21, 2004
In this NCVA Reporter:
Events
Funding Opportunities
Jobs/Internships
Tips/Resources
News
******************
EVENTS
SAVE THE DATE FOR DRUG-FREE
COMMUNITIES GRANT APPLICATION WORKSHOP
Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America
625 Slaters Lane, Suite 300
Alexandria, VA 22314
www.cadca.org
The Drug-Free Communities (DFC)
Program will offer a series of regional workshops starting in
January 2005 for community coalitions that are interested in
learning how to apply for a DFC grant. The workshops will
provide detailed information about the application process,
including requirements for the FY 2005
DFC
grant application. Both existing and potential grantees are
welcome to attend the workshops. To register for the workshops,
visit
cadca.org/DFCApplication.
Workshops will run from 8:30 am-4 p.m. The first DFC grant
application workshop will be held on January 14, the day
following the close of CADCA's National Leadership Forum.
While there is no registration fee, you are responsible for all
other costs associated with attendance. Please contact the hotel
directly to secure a room if you need one. There are a limited
number of rooms at each location. Room rates are noted below.
When calling a hotel, be sure to request the "Applicant Workshop
Block."
Workshops will be held on the following dates and locations:
Jan. 14- Renaissance Hotel
999 9th Street
Washington, DC
Phone-202-898-9000
Fax-202-962-4470
Room Rate $155.00
Jan. 18- Marriott City Center, Charlotte, NC
100 W Trade St
Charlotte, NC 28202
Phone: 704-333-9000
Fax: 704-347-178
Room Rate $129.00
Jan. 25- Los Angeles Airport Marriott Hotel
5855 West Century Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90045
Phone-310-641-5700
Fax-310-337-5358
Room Rate $100.00
Jan. 27- Renaissance Chicago Hotel
1 West Wacker Drive
Chicago, Illinois 60601
Phone-312-372-7200
Fax-312-372-0093
Room Rate $155.00
Feb. 1- Oklahoma City Sheraton
1 North Broadway
Oklahoma City, OK 73102
405-235-2780
Room Rate: $109.00
The Drug-Free Communities program provides grants of up to
$100,000 for up to five years to community coalitions working to
reduce substance abuse locally using multiple strategies across
multiple community sectors. The Drug-Free Communities currently
funds more than 700 coalitions located throughout the country.
The new 2004 Drug-Free Communities grantees -- announced in
September -- received a total of $21.9 million in matching
grants. To learn more about the Drug-Free Communities Program,
visit
drugfreecommunities.samhsa.gov.
For questions about the workshops, e-mail
workshops@cadca.org.
******************
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
GREEN COMMUNITIES INITIATIVE ANNOUNCES GRANT GUIDELINES
Deadline: Rolling
The Green Communities Initiative is a five-year, $550 million
initiative to build more than 8,500 homes across the United
States that provide significant health, economic, and
environmental benefits to low-income families and communities.
The effort is a partnership of the Enterprise Foundation and the
Natural Resources Defense Council, in collaboration with the
American Institute of Architects, the American Planning
Association, and leading corporate, financial, and philanthropic
organizations.
The initiative will offer financing, grants, and technical
assistance to developers to build affordable housing that
promotes health, conserves energy and natural resources, and
provides easy access to jobs, schools, and services.
Grants will help cover the costs of planning and implementing
green components of affordable housing projects, as well as
tracking their costs and benefits.
A minimum of $1 million in grant funds is available to
participants. Individual grants are expected to range between
$15,000 and $50,000.
The grant competition is open to 501(c)(3) nonprofit, public
housing authorities and tribally designated housing entities.
For-profit entities may participate though joint ventures with
qualified organizations.
(http://enterprisefoundation.org/resources/green/)
******************
CIVICONNECTIONS GRANTS TO SUPPORT SCHOOL SERVICE-LEARNING
PROJECTS
Deadline: February 25, 2005
CiviConnections, a three-year teacher grant program funded by
the Corporation for National and Community Service and the
National Council for the Social Studies, supports students and
teachers across the United States in linking inquiry into local
history with service-learning activities.
Teams of three teachers from grades 3-12 in the same public
school district are invited to apply for grants of $7,500
through the program. The grant covers the costs of attending a
summer workshop, implementing the program during the fall of
2005, and attending a 2005 conference in Kansas City, Missouri.
Applicants must be members of the National Council for the
Social Studies (or agree to join if their application is
accepted). Teachers that teach disciplines other than social
studies are eligible to apply; however, priority will be given
to those teachers who teach social studies or a social science
course. Part time or retired teachers are not eligible.
(http://www.socialstudies.org/civiconnections/)
******************
CABLE POSITIVE’S TONY
COX
COMMUNITY FUND TO SUPPORT HIV/AIDS PROGRAMMING
Deadline:
February 9, 2005 (2005 Cycle 1)
Cable Positive's Tony Cox Community Fund is a national grant
program that exists to encourage community-based AIDS
organizations and cable outlets to partner in joint community
outreach efforts, or to produce and distribute new, locally
focused HIV/AIDS-related programs and public service
announcements (PSAs).
Eligible local community outreach projects include, but are not
limited to, World AIDS Day (December 1) and National HIV Testing
Day (June 27) events, AIDS Rides/ Walks, other joint efforts
between AIDS organizations and local cable operators, etc.
Funding is also available for production costs of
HIV/AIDS-related programs and PSAs.
Grants are available up to $5,000 for 501(c)(3) organizations,
with special consideration given to AIDS service organizations (ASOs)
and cable systems and producers partnering with ASOs.
(http://cablepositive.org/programs-tonycox.html)
******************
ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES EXCELLENCE IN
CARDIAC
CARE PROGRAM FOR MINORITY AMERICANS
Deadline: January 14, 2005 (Letter of Intent)
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (
http://rwjf.org/ ) has announced Expecting Success:
Excellence in Cardiac Care, a new program designed to improve
the quality of health care provided to minority Americans by
focusing on the continuum of cardiovascular care delivered in
inpatient and outpatient settings.
The program's goals are to improve cardiovascular care for
African Americans and Latinos; develop effective and replicable
quality-improvement strategies, models, and resources; encourage
the spread of such strategies and models to additional clinical
areas; and disseminate relevant lessons to policy and provider
audiences.
General acute-care hospitals or hospital consortia that serve
substantial numbers of African-American and/or Latino patients
with cardiovascular disease are eligible to apply.
Up to ten sites will be selected to participate in the
29-month-long collaborative "Learning Network." Each site will
receive grants of $200,000 and technical assistance and
training.
(http://expectingsuccess.org/)
******************
BLUE CROSS
BLUE SHIELD MASSACHUSETTS FOUNDATION ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR
CULTURALLY COMPETENT HEALTH
CARE GRANT PROGRAM
Deadline:
January 19, 2005 (Letters of Inquiry)
Through the Pathways to Culturally Competent Health Care funding
program, the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation
(
http://www.bcbsmafoundation.org/ ) will provide grants to
Massachusetts healthcare delivery organizations to help expand
access to culturally competent care in a way that is systemic,
replicable, and sustainable.
The program is designed to help improve the delivery of
healthcare to a range of populations, including immigrants and
refugees from a variety of backgrounds, African Americans, Asian
Americans and Pacific Islanders, Latin Americans, Native
Americans, members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender
community, people who are homeless, and people with
disabilities.
The foundation will only consider Letters of Inquiry from
healthcare delivery organizations. Community-based organizations
and healthcare advocacy groups are not eligible to apply.
However, healthcare delivery organizations are encouraged to
consider partnerships with community-based organizations that
can strengthen the delivery of culturally competent care for
specific populations.
Program grants of $20,000 to $50,000 are available to applicants
ready to implement new initiatives or expand existing programs
that have the potential for successful outcomes and
sustainability.
Planning grants of $15,000 are available for early stage
initiatives supported by data and assessments indicating the
viability and necessity for the program.
(http://www.bcbsmafoundation.org/foundationroot/en_US/grants/focusArea.jsp)
******************
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S MEDIA FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES FELLOWSHIP
FOR JOURNALISTS REPORTING ON HUMAN RIGHTS
AND
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Deadline: February 25, 2005
The International Women's Media Foundation invites applications
for the Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship, a new program that
supports women journalists who report on human rights and social
justice issues. The fellowship combines research opportunities
at MIT's Center for International Studies and other Boston-area
universities with reporting opportunities at the New York Times
and the Boston Globe.
The fellowship is named for a Boston Globe reporter who was a
1998 winner of the IWMF's Courage in Journalism Award. Elizabeth
Neuffer was killed in May 2003 while covering the war in Iraq.
The IWMF has established this project in collaboration with
Neuffer's family and friends.
The flexible structure of the fellowship will allow the fellow
to design a program that combines academic research with
practical experience covering human rights. The fellow will also
have a key role in the Elizabeth Neuffer Forum on Human Rights
and Journalism, an annual program to be held in May. The
fellowship will run from September 2005 to May 2006.
Successful applicants will be dedicated to a career in
journalism in print, broadcast, or Internet media and show a
strong commitment to sharing knowledge and skills with
colleagues upon the completion of the fellowship. Excellent
written and spoken English skills are required. Expenses,
including air fare and housing, will be covered.
(http://iwmf.org/programs/neuffer)
******************
INDEPENDENT SECTOR INVITES NOMINATIONS FOR JOHN W. GARDNER
LEADERSHIP AWARD
Deadline: January 31, 2005
The John W. Gardner Leadership Award was established by
Independent Sector in 1985 to honor outstanding Americans who,
in their own way, exemplify the leadership and ideals of John W.
Gardner, founding chairperson of Independent Sector.
The award recognizes living Americans working in or with the
voluntary sector who build, mobilize, and unify people,
institutions, or causes. The award consists of $10,000 and a
replica of an original relief bust of John Gardner by the late
sculptor Frederick Hart.
Anyone may nominate an individual to receive the award.
(http://www.independentsector.org/about/gardneraward.htm)
******************
JOBS/INTERNSHIPS
PROJECT
VOTE SMART RESEARCH INTERNSHIPS
Project Vote Smart has received $210,000 in additional
Scholarship Grant Money for our Internship Program. We are
seeking to immediately place 10 students in research positions
for 10 weeks. The students may start anytime between Jan 1 and
May 1 2005.
Our political research center, founded by national political
leaders Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, John McCain, Geraldine
Ferraro and 40 other prominent political leaders, is now
handling millions of citizen inquiries a day and was recently
recognized by over 100 news organizations as the best there is.
We provide an extraordinary experience for interns in one of the
most beautiful places on earth. Our young people's efforts to
defend the citizens’ right to the facts about those that govern
do not stop on Election Day. We will have over 10,000 newly
elected officials to track - their speeches, voting records,
backgrounds, issue positions and campaign contributions (that's
right; they will already be fundraising for their next go
around). Project Vote Smart collects exciting and important
research, that U.S. News and World Report says, "would make the
founders weep with joy."
Students interested in applying may visit the internship page of
our website –
http://www.vote-smart.org/program_internships.php
or email
intern@vote-smart.org for an application form and more
information.
We would greatly appreciate it if you could tell your students
about this opportunity. The Project pays all living expenses.
Lisa Coligan
Internship Coordinator
Project Vote Smart
1 Common Ground
Philipsburg, MT 59858
406.859.8683 (ph)
406.859.8680 (fx)
lisa@vote-smart.org
(www.vote-smart.org)
******************
NATIONAL COALITION FOR ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT
WINTER/SPRING INTERNSHIPS 2005
The National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community
Development was founded in 1999 as the first national
organization dedicated to the housing and community development
needs of Asian American and Pacific Islander populations.
National CAPACD's mission is "to be a powerful voice for the
unique community development needs of AAPI communities and to
strengthen the capacity of community based organizations to
create neighborhoods of hope and opportunities." Our member
organizations offer a wide array of community building programs
and advocate around issues of housing, employment and economic
development throughout the U.S.
We are looking for Winter/Spring interns that want to gain
experience with national organizing, capacity building, research
and policy support. Interns can assist with a variety of
projects under our core programs areas which include:
* Policy Development & Advocacy - Assist with researching and
developing advocacy initiatives and involving member
organizations in advocacy activities. Assist with policy
analysis and legislative tracking.
* Action Research - Assist with the development and
dissemination of census data, coordinate with the Asian Pacific
American Community Development Data Center on developing future
research studies on community development issues.
* Membership Development & Communications - Work with staff to
outreach to new member organizations, assist with member
organization needs assessments, develop informational materials,
brochures, press releases, special reports and websites.
* Organizational & Program Development - Facilitate
communications with the Board of Directors and assist with
coordination of other committees and task forces. Assist with
proposal development and research. Provide support for
organizational programs and activities that promote community
development.
To Apply:
Please visit our website to download application at
http://www.nationalcapacd.org/opportunities.html
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT
Please contact David Thor at
202.223.2442 or
dthor@nationalcapacd.org.
******************
NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES OFFERS SUMMER INTERNSHIPS
PROGRAM
Deadline: January 5, 2005
The Summer Internships Program of the National Endowment for the
Humanities (
http://neh.gov/ ) is designed to introduce college students
to the programs and operations of the federal agency charged
with promoting scholarship, education, and public programming in
the humanities in the United States.
During their ten-week stay in Washington, D.C., interns will be
assigned, in most cases, to one office of the agency to assist
with daily work and participate in the intellectual life of NEH.
Typically, an intern's time will be split between routine
administrative duties and an individual project that makes best
use of the intern's skills, talents, and interests. For example,
past interns have written articles for Humanities magazine,
researched emerging fields in the humanities, and developed
Web-based tools for the gathering of humanities-related
information.
To be eligible for an internship, an applicant must be entering
his or her junior or senior year in the fall of 2005 and have
declared an undergraduate major in one of the disciplines of the
humanities or have a strong background in the humanities.
Applicants must be either a citizen of the U.S.; a foreign
national who has been a legal resident in the U.S. for at least
three years; or a territorial resident of Puerto Rico, the
Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, or the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands.
Each intern will receive a stipend of $4,000. NEH anticipates
making up to fifteen awards.
(http://neh.gov/interns/guidelines.html)
******************
GETTY FUNDING AVAILABLE FOR MULTICULTURAL INTERNSHIPS AT LOS
ANGELES
AREA
MUSEUMS
AND
VISUAL ARTS ORGANIZATIONS
Deadline: February 1, 2005
In order to increase diversity in the professions related to
museums and the visual arts, and to provide support for local
organizations, the J. Paul Getty Trust (
http://getty.edu/ ) is offering funding to Los Angeles-area
museums and visual arts organizations for multi-cultural
undergraduate internships during the summer of 2005.
The internships are intended specifically for outstanding
students who are members of groups -- i.e., individuals of
African American, Asian, Latino/Hispanic, Native American, and
Pacific Islander descent -- currently underrepresented in these
professions.
Museums of all types and nonprofit visual arts organizations of
any size located in Los Angeles County are eligible to apply for
these grants. Applicants must have nonprofit status as defined
by section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue
Service Code.
Organizations may request support for one to three full-time
internship positions, each with a salary of $3,500, for a
ten-week period between June and August 2005. Organizations will
also receive $500 per internship to assist with administrative
costs.
Internships should be designed to offer eligible students
experience in key areas such as curatorship, conservation,
education, publications, and related programmatic activities.
Eligibility for internships will be limited to currently
enrolled undergraduates who either reside or attend college in
Los Angeles County, will have completed at least one semester of
college by June 2005, and will not graduate before December
2005.
(http://getty.edu/grants/education/multicultural_la.html)
******************
TIPS/RESOURCES
FREE
TECH PLANNING TOOL FOR NONPROFITS
TechAtlas, a free planning tool for nonprofits, will continue to
be distributed by developer Npower thanks to a new grant from
the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated $213,000 to NPower
company for the continuation and expansion of TechAtlas,
PNN Online reported Dec. 1.
Already distributed to more than 7,000 nonprofits,
TechAtlas enables an organization to evaluate their current
technology and leads them through a four-step process to plan
the development of new technologies. The Gates Foundation grant
will allow NPower to tailor its software system to better fit a
wide range of nonprofit clients.
This is the second time the Gates Foundation has contributed a
significant sum to the TechAtlas program; the first was in 2001.
The improved program system will be available in summer 2005.
(http://www.pnnonline.org/article.php?sid=5619)
(http://techatlas.org/tools/)
******************
MEDIA GRANTS FOR
NONPROFITS
Dec. 31 is the deadline for
CyberAlert's media grants for nonprofits.
CyberAlert, an online media-monitoring company, will make grants
which range from $2,340 to $3,540 to fund a full year of free
news monitoring services. The company has committed to making at
least 10 grants, totaling $25,000.
All charitable, educational, and non-profit organizations in the
U.S. and Canada are eligible to apply. Winners will be notified
in January.
For more information, visit
CyberAlert and
apply online.
(http://www.cyberalert.com/prgrants.html)
******************
NEWS
December 13, 2004
FOR
REP. SANCHEZ, NO GOODWILL IN VIETNAM
By Al Kamen
Washington Post, Page A19
The arrival Friday of a United Airlines flight into Ho Chi Minh
City was seen as a big deal, not merely because folks such as
actor David Hasselhoff, star of the cerebral but widely
acclaimed TV series "Knight Rider" and the even more esoteric
"Baywatch," were aboard.
No, the landing was historic because it was the first commercial
flight to arrive at Tan Son Nhat airport since the communists
took over in 1975.
But
another Californian, Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D), was not on
that or any other flight to Vietnam. That's because she's
persona non grata, unable to get a visa because she has had
the effrontery to criticize the commies for "blatant disregard
of religious freedom" and the usual violations of human rights.
Sanchez, whose Orange County district includes "Little Saigon,"
also co-founded the Congressional Vietnam Caucus, a group of
human rights hard-liners constantly badgering the Vietnamese to
stop repressing elderly Buddhist monks.
A couple of weeks ago she was in Thailand and hoped to go to
Vietnam for a couple of days to talk security and trade issues,
meet with the American Chamber of Commerce and nongovernmental
groups, maybe pop in on a few imprisoned dissidents and so on.
The U.S. Embassy requested a visa for her. But the country's
august National Assembly said no way. "Ms. Loretta Sanchez
altogether lacks objectivity and goodwill toward Vietnam. The
Vietnamese National Assembly and Vietnamese public opinion" --
to which the assembly is doubtless very responsive -- "share the
view that a visit to Vietnam by . . . Sanchez would not serve
Vietnam-U.S. relations."
U.S. Ambassador Michael W. Marine appealed to no avail.
That'll show her how the Vietnamese love to hear dissenting
views.
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59794-2004Dec12.html)
******************
December 15, 2004
PRESS RELEASE
HMONG NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, INC. (HND)
SOUTHEAST
ASIA
RESOURCE ACTION CENTER (SEARAC)
NATIONAL SOUTHEAST ASIAN AMERICAN GROUPS CALL FOR HEALING
AND UNITY
AFTER SHOOTINGS IN WISCONSIN
Contacts:
Hmong National Development (HND): (202) 463-2118
* Pang Houa Moua
Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC): (202) 667-4690
* Doua Thor
National organizations representing Hmong and other Southeast
Asian Americans are calling for unity among communities
following the deaths of six hunters and the wounding of two
others in Wisconsin on November 21, 2004. Chai Soua Vang, the
alleged assailant in the case, is a Hmong American who arrived
in the U.S. from Laos in 1980.
Doua Thor, a Hmong American and the Deputy Director of the
Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC) of Washington,
DC, is working with communities in Wisconsin and Minnesota to
ease tensions following the shooting. “We learned earlier this
week that one store in Minnesota sold bumper stickers saying
‘Save a Hunter Shoot a Mung.’ Most people know that kind of
language has no place in America. Singling out everyone in an
ethnic group for punishment – even as a joke – is against what
this country stands for – against really basic principles like
equality and respect. The vast majority of people, no matter
what their background, realize that Mr. Vang is just one person,
and whether he is guilty or not, he does not define Hmong
Americans,” according to Ms. Thor.
Tong Lee, the Interim Executive Director of Hmong National
Development, a Washington, DC-based Hmong American organization,
voices similar concerns: “Hmong and other Asian Americans are
appalled at these tragic deaths and grieve for the victims and
their families. Sadly, some are choosing to respond to this
tragedy by attacking Hmong Americans. The shooting should not
overshadow the many contributions made by the Hmong. We continue
to enliven neighborhoods that were once run-down and to enrich
the communities where we live. All communities should be united
in grief and concern, not separated by anger. We stand united
with all Americans who oppose any form of racial intolerance.”
(www.searac.org)
(www.hndlink.org)
******************
December 15, 2004
PRESS RELEASE
HMONG NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, INC. (HND)
SOUTHEAST ASIA RESOURCE ACTION CENTER (SEARAC)
NATIONAL ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN LEGAL CONSORTIUM (NAPALC)
HATE
CRIME/HATE INCIDENT TRACKING
FORM
Hmong National Development, Inc. (HND), National Asian Pacific
American Legal Consortium (NAPALC), and the Southeast Asia
Resource Action Center (SEARAC) are coordinating efforts to
collect information on hate crimes or hate incidents that occur
against the Hmong community. If you experience, witness, hear or
read about any racial bias as a result of the Chai Soua Vang
hunting matter in Wisconsin or any other matter, please report
the incident to NAPALC. Incidents can be reported online at
www.napalc.org/reporthate/ or by selecting the “Online Hate
Crimes Incident Reporting Form” link on the NAPALC homepage (www.napalc.org).
When completing the online form, try to provide as much
information as possible. If you have actual newspaper clippings,
photos, emails, letters, etc., please mail, fax, or email them
to:
Aimee Baldillo, Esq.
National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium
1140 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Suite 1200
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 296-2300 [P]
(202) 296-2318 [F]
email:
abaldillo@napalc.org
If you do not have access to the Internet, have difficulty
accessing the page, or need Hmong language assistance, please
contact Doua Thor (doua@searac.org
– 202-667-4690) at SEARAC or Pang Houa Moua (panghoua@hndlink.org
– 202-463-2118) at HND.
For general inquiries, please contact:
HND: Pang Houa Moua, 202-463-2118,
panghoua@hndlink.org;
NAPALC: Aimee J. Baldillo, 202-296-2300,
abaldillo@napalc.org;
SEARAC: Doua Thor, 202-667-4690,
doua@searac.org.
Additional information and resources on hate crimes and hate
incidents can be found at:
www.napalc.org/aavpubs
******************
December 15, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Janell Hu (APIA VOTE) National, (202) 223-9170
Ilean Her (MN) Local, (651) 296-0538
APIAVOTE HOLDS HISTORIC POST- ELECTION DEBRIEF FOR ASIAN PACIFIC
ISLANDER AMERICANS
Washington, D.C. - At the first-ever national Asian Pacific
Islander American (APIA) post-election debrief, over 100
community leaders from all over the country joined APIAVote in
the nation's capital to discuss how they successfully mobilized
large numbers of APIA voters to the polls, and to look forward
to building more political strength.
Janelle Hu, National Director of APIAVote, said, "Our community
is looking forward to building greater political power through a
stronger, more comprehensive program. This weekend, we were also
able to hear success stories from field organizers from
throughout the country about their work. We also heard about the
challenges that they faced, and concluded with everyone even
more committed to improving the voting system. We look forward
to holding a strategic planning session in the first half of
2005 and maintaining and channeling our community's enthusiasm."
Ilean Her, Executive Director of the Council of Asian Pacifics
of Minnesota in St. Paul, MN: "The APIAVote debrief provided a
broad picture of how our community has truly mobilized
nationally and locally, and I feel proud to have participated in
such a historic event. I had the chance to learn from my peers
and am bringing back some truly innovative strategies to St.
Paul. Those of us in MN really need to build a strategy to
develop campaigns with the local media, which will help the
community in MN gain better insight into the ways APIAs are
becoming increasingly vested in the American democratic system."
Gloria T. Caoile, Executive Director of the Asian Pacific
American Labor Alliance, stated, "We are glad to have brought
together all the local volunteers and staff who implemented an
exhaustive voter registration, education and mobilization
campaign. APALA will continue to integrate APIAs into the labor
movement and political system by providing comprehensive
training programs, building capacity within local communities,
and running nonpartisan voter outreach campaigns. We feel
fortunate to share our knowledge and resources with other
younger organizations so that our community can become
increasingly politically savvy."
Eunsook Lee, Executive Director of the National Korean American
Service and Education Consortium, remarked, "We learned from
each other that one of the key ways of institutionalizing
political involvement is to organize year-round on issues that
speak to our community. Also, we challenged ourselves to improve
upon our successes and to support each other as we build a
broad-based APIA political awakening."
Daphne Kwok, Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American
Institute for Congressional Studies, proclaimed, "Each election
cycle, we see more and more APIAs run for public office. On
November 2, there were over 230 APIA candidates at local, state,
and federal levels. In the primaries, there were even more APIA
candidates who are not reflected in that number. One hundred and
fourteen candidates won seats in nineteen states including Iowa,
New Hampshire, Michigan, Washington, Oregon, Minnesota, Texas,
South Carolina, West Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, Utah,
Alabama, Texas, Virginia, Maryland, New York, California and
Hawaii."
Christine Chen, Executive Director of the Organization of
Chinese Americans, reflected, "APIAVote has moved forward by
bounds and leaps since our start in 1996! What is exciting this
cycle is to see young people, new people be engaged and
empowered by the political process. This weekend is just the
start of laying the foundation and groundwork for a permanent
national structure that addresses civic participation every
single day instead of once every four years."
###
APIAVote is a national coalition of non-partisan nonprofit
organizations that encourages civic participation and promotes a
better understanding of public policy and the electoral process
among the Asian and Pacific Islander American community.
National APIAVote partners are APIA Greek Alliance, Asian
American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Asian American
Online, Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional
Studies, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, Hmong National
Development, National Asian American Student Conference,
National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, National
Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development,
National Congress of Vietnamese Americans, National Korean
American Service and Education Consortium, Organization of
Chinese Americans, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education
Fund, and South Asian American Voting Youth. APIAVote was
founded in 1996 and maintains its headquarters in Washington,
D.C.
(www.apiavote.org)
******************
December 16, 2004
STARK
CONTRASTS FOUND AMONG ASIAN AMERICANS
* The group's average family income tops the overall U.S.
figure. But while Indians prosper, Cambodians, Laotians and
Hmong struggle.
By Teresa Watanabe and Nancy Wride, Times Staff Writers
Indian Americans have surged forward as the most successful
Asian minority in the United States, reporting top levels of
income, education, professional job status and English-language
ability, even though three-fourths were foreign-born, according
to U.S. census data released Wednesday.
The striking success of Asian Americans who trace their heritage
to India contrasted with data showing struggles among Cambodian,
Laotian and Hmong immigrants. Those three groups reported
continued significant poverty rates, low job skills and limited
English-language ability since their flight from war and
political turmoil.
The report, "We the People: Asians in the United States," was
based on 2000 census data and underscored the enormous
socioeconomic diversity among the nation's 10 million Asian
Americans, more than one third of whom live in California, the
state with their largest population.
Asian Americans increased from 6.9 million, or 2.8% of the U.S.
population, in 1990 to 10.2 million, or 3.6%, in 2000. Including
mixed-race Asian Americans, counted by the census for the first
time in 2000, the population was 11.9 million, or 4.2%.
"It is a community of contrasts," said Kimiko Kelly, research
analyst with the Asian Pacific American Legal Center in Los
Angeles. "Asian Americans are seen as a model minority who are
not suffering from barriers to education or progress. But if you
look closely, you see a community that covers the whole
spectrum, from wealthy to very poor."
She said the growing diversity of the community, which was
mainly Chinese, Japanese and Filipinos until 1965 immigration
reforms were instituted, has multiplied the challenges facing
service organizations such as hers. Translators for health
clinics and courts are among the pressing needs, she said.
The contrasts are detailed in the report, which provides data on
such items as age, marital status, citizenship, language,
education, earnings, poverty rates, occupation and home
ownership among 11 Asian American groups.
Median family income, for instance, ranged from $70,849 for
Japanese and $70,708 for Asian Indians to about half that for
Cambodians and Hmong. Indian men showed the highest full-time
earnings, $51,900, about double the figure for Hmong men.
About 64% of Asian Indians held a bachelor's degree or more, the
highest rate, compared with 7.7% for Laotians and 7.5% for Hmong,
the lowest. More than three-fourths of Indians and Filipinos
spoke fluent English, twice the rate for Vietnamese.
Max Niedzwiecki, executive director of the Southeast Asia
Resource Action Center in Washington, D.C., said the differences
stemmed in part from different histories. Many Southeast Asian
Americans came here as refugees with less formal education and
with memories of traumatic experiences stemming from the Vietnam
War and the murderous Khmer Rouge reign in Cambodia, he said.
In contrast, many Asians Indians emigrated voluntarily from a
relatively peaceful homeland and were equipped with strong
English skills to pursue higher academic degrees or business
opportunities. Between 1990 and 2000, they doubled their
population to 1.6 million and now rank as the third-largest
Asian American group after Chinese and Filipinos.
Take, for instance, Venkatesh Koka, a 36-year-old real estate
investor in Artesia. The son of a civil engineer, Koka left a
comfortable life with servants in southern India to earn a
master's degree in business administration at Ohio University.
As in other upper-middle-class families, he had attended schools
with instruction in English since his childhood, rendering him
fluent even though he has always spoken Telugu, an Indian
language, at home.
He says he came to the United States in 1986 after a friend
studying here lured him with wide-eyed stories of freeways, an
easy life and good money.
Koka worked at a bank and initially lost $1.5 million in real
estate deals, filing for bankruptcy in the mid-1990s. Since
then, he said, he has bounced back as manager of his family
investments and has increased their value from $3 million to $15
million. This year, his family created the Little India Village
shopping plaza on
Pioneer Boulevard in Artesia.
"You never learn life unless you come to America," Koka said.
"In India, you have servants and money from your parents. Here,
you learn independence and how to lose, how to gain."
Vinay Lal, an associate professor of history at UCLA who
specializes in the Indian diaspora, said Indian Americans had
made their strongest contributions in the medical and
high-technology industries. He said more than half of all
graduates from India's prestigious Indian Institutes of
Technology come to the United States, and currently number at
least 25,000. He estimated that Indian Americans constituted 20%
or more of Silicon Valley employees.
He believes, however, that the Census Bureau significantly
undercounted lower-income Indian Americans. Other scholarly
studies have found both high rates of wealth and high rates of
poverty in the community.
The new report found that Southeast Asian communities continued
to struggle the most, which Niedzwiecki attributed in part to
lingering traumas of strife in that region.
The nation's Hmongs originally hailed from Laos but largely
migrated here from refugee camps in Thailand. Many of them have
settled in California's Central Valley.
Pang Houa Moua, a program manager for the Hmong National
Development advocacy group in Washington, D.C., said traditional
Hmong society was agrarian and isolated, with no running water
or electricity. A written language was not developed until 1950,
and formal education was limited: Her own parents, she said, did
not learn that the world was round until they were teenagers.
"When you throw a population like that into the middle of the
most technologically advanced society in the world, people are
going to be confused," she said. "They're going to struggle."
Still, experts say they find a striking divide among Southeast
Asians between adult refugees and their children, who are more
assimilated and successful here.
For instance, 17-year-old Prumsodun Ok of Long Beach is a
promising filmmaker who just won an award and recognition from
the YMCA's Youth Institute, where he works after school. Prum,
as he is known among friends, also is a late-blooming
accomplished classical Cambodian dancer at the Khmer Arts
Academy in Long Beach.
He is the third-youngest of 10 children whose parents speak no
English and have never gotten off welfare here. They have their
hearts in the homeland and are "stuck in place," the teenager
said Wednesday.
He said his parents' financial dependence on public assistance
stemmed from their failure to learn English, from advancing age
and from isolation.
"I think they've just been so unable to adapt to life here," he
said of his parents. "It's always, 'Cambodia! Cambodia!' They
always look inward and are scared and isolated."
Prum was born in Long Beach, the first of the siblings to be a
U.S. citizen. His older siblings were born in prewar Cambodia,
postwar Thai refugee camps or elsewhere before the family
settled in Long Beach, home to the largest population of
Cambodian refugees outside Cambodia.
His eldest siblings, now approaching middle age, have been
schooled and employed, and some have their own businesses. One
owns a florist shop in Eagle Rock. Another works in the
after-school program at Whittier Elementary School in Long
Beach. All are off welfare, which is Prum's aspiration.
A senior in Long Beach Polytechnic High School's magnet program,
Prum dreams of becoming a filmmaker and is applying to the
California Institute of the Arts in Valencia.
"I want to be independent," he insisted, "and I don't want
anything to hold me back."
*
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
Asians in America
The median annual income of Asian families exceeded that of all
U.S. families, and the percentage of Asians with at least a
bachelor's degree was almost double that of the total
population, according to the 2000 census.
(http://www.latimes.com/features/health/consumer/la-me-asians16dec16,1,2962048.story?coll=la-health-consumer-news)
******************
[Note: As a nonpartisan organization, NCVA does not
endorse any parties or elected officials. However, we do
recognize the need for public discussion on issues which affect
the Vietnamese American and Asian Pacific American communities,
including Social Security, Affordable Healthcare, Economic
Opportunities and Education.]
December 18, 2004
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
RADIO
ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT TO THE NATION
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week my administration
hosted an important conference on America's economic future. We
heard from business owners, workers, economists, and many other
Americans who are seeing hopeful signs throughout our country.
Our economy has come through a lot these past four years and now
our people are benefiting from solid economic growth, steady
gains in new jobs, record home ownership, and rising family
incomes.
We also discussed some of the fundamental challenges facing our
economy, from junk lawsuits and burdensome regulation to the
complicated tax code, to the need for vital reforms in
education, health care and entitlements. I will work with
members of both political parties to confront these problems so
we can keep our economy flexible, innovative and competitive,
and so America remains the best place in the world to do
business.
Excessive litigation is one of the biggest obstacles to economic
growth. The tort system now costs America's economy more than
$230 billion a year, and no other country faces a greater burden
from junk lawsuits. Our litigious society deters job creation
and consumes billions of dollars that could be better spent on
investment and expansion. Frivolous lawsuits put American
workers at a competitive disadvantage in the global economy and
have a devastating impact on the medical community. When
Congress convenes next year, the House and Senate need to pass
sound reforms on our medical liability, class action, and
asbestos litigation systems.
Another challenge in our economy is the rising cost of health
care. More than half of all uninsured Americans are small
business employees and their families. And while many business
owners want to provide health care for their workers, they just
can't afford the high cost. To help more Americans get care, we
need to expand tax-free health savings accounts, which are
already making a difference for small businesses and families.
We should encourage health information technology that minimizes
error and controls costs. And Congress must allow small firms
to join together and buy health insurance at the same discounts
big companies get.
To grow their businesses and create jobs, small business owners
also need relief from excessive taxes and regulation. The tax
relief we passed has been critical to our economic recovery, and
Congress needs to make that tax relief permanent. We also need
to reform our complicated tax code to encourage investment and
growth, and reduce headache for taxpayers. And to promote
innovation in hiring, we must lift the burden of needless
federal regulation on hardworking entrepreneurs.
As our businesses create advanced, high-paying jobs, we must
ensure that workers have the education and skills to fill those
jobs. We've made a good start with the No Child Left Behind Act,
which is already helping students make progress in the early
grades. Now we need to bring high standards and accountability
to high schools, and make sure job-training programs prepare
workers for the innovative jobs of the 21st century.
To help our young people we must also fix the long-term problems
in the Social Security system. Workers in their mid-20s today
will find Social Security bankrupt when they retire, unless we
act to save it. As we reform and strengthen the system we will
deliver all the benefits owed to current and near retirees. We
must not increase payroll taxes. And we must tap into the power
of markets and compound interest by giving younger workers the
option of saving some of their payroll taxes in a personal
investment account, a nest egg they call their own, which the
government can never take away.
The week's conference provided a good opportunity to discuss our
economic challenges with Americans from many backgrounds, and to
set the issues clearly before Congress. I'm open to good ideas
from Democrats and Republicans. I will work with any who shares
our goal of strengthening the economy. But I will not ignore
these challenges and leave them to another day. We have a duty
to the American people to act on these issues, and we will get
results.
Thank you for listening.
******************
December 19, 2004
D.C. OFFICIAL HELPS PEOPLE UNDERSTAND
ONE ANOTHER
New Law Requires Agencies To Translate and Interpret
By Mary Beth Sheridan
Washington Post Staff Writer, Page C05
When she was growing up, Aryan Rodriguez was struck by some
people's response when her grandparents struggled with English.
THEY SPOKE LOUDER.
"I never understood that -- if you speak louder, they'd be able
to understand you better," she said.
Now Rodriguez is seeking a better way to help people who aren't
fluent. As the District's language-access director, she is
coordinating efforts by city agencies to comply with a new law
requiring them to provide interpreters and translations of vital
documents.
Rodriguez, who took charge of the new post in August, said she
has been impressed by agency directors' willingness to make
changes.
"They've looked at it as, 'There's no other choice but to do
this, especially with how diverse the Washington area is
getting,' " said Rodriguez, who is originally from Puerto Rico.
The number of D.C. residents with limited English proficiency
grew from about 30,000 to 38,000 in a decade, according to the
2000 Census. They make up about 7 percent of the population.
The Language Access Act, which became law in April, requires
nearly two dozen city agencies to take steps to ensure that such
residents have equal access to services. The agencies must have
translators and provide official materials in Spanish, Mandarin
Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Amharic, an Ethiopian language.
Rodriguez, 26, is used to moving between cultures. An Air Force
brat, she grew up in Puerto Rico, Ohio, Alabama, Germany and
Maryland. She has an aunt who is an immigration lawyer as well
as an uncle who is an immigration judge.
"It's been in the family a long time," she said of her interest
in people from other places.
Since graduating from the University of Maryland in 2000 with
degrees in government and communications, Rodriguez has been
working in the city's Office of Human Rights, which oversees
implementation of the new law.
Rodriguez has spent much of her time working with the eight
agencies in the first group required to comply with the law.
They include the police department, public schools, fire and
emergency services and several health and human services
agencies. All agencies must be in compliance by October 2006.
The eight agencies have completed assessments of their efforts
and named language-access coordinators. Vital documents for the
agencies have all been translated into at least five languages,
Rodriguez said.
One of her challenges going forward will be to create standard
practices for agencies that have very different missions, she
said. An even bigger issue is to come up with the money for
implementing those practices.
"Resources is a huge challenge," she said. The new law came with
a $300,000 budget in its first year, enough to hire Rodriguez
and an assistant and translate some documents. Agencies must
shoulder most of the expense for additional staff or programs.
Denise Gilman of the Language Access Coalition, an alliance of
pro-immigrant groups that pressed for the new law, said members
initially were concerned about Rodriguez's limited experience in
government.
"However, I have to say that we have really been pleased and
pleasantly surprised by the vigor with which she has taken on
this role. She has really just jumped in there and organized the
process and pushed agencies to the limit," said Gilman, who
works for the Washington Lawyers Committee.
Eugenio Arene, another member of the coalition, agreed that
Rodriguez has been effective.
"My impression is that she has passion and willingness to have a
strong coalition" with community groups, he said. "I am not
concerned about her that much, but about the political will from
the city administrators on down" to hire more Latinos and ensure
compliance with the law, said Arene, executive director of the
Council of Latino Agencies.
Rodriguez tries to compensate for her youth with energy. Asked
about her hobbies, she acknowledged that she is a workaholic.
"My hobby is to ensure this program goes in the right
direction," she said.
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11230-2004Dec19.html)
******************
December 20, 2004
A shift for Vietnamese
ELECTION OF S.J. SCHOOL TRUSTEE MARKS GROUP'S PUSH TO FIND VOICE
By Jon Fortt
Mercury News
When Lan Nguyen entered Andrew Hill High School as a sophomore
in 1984, he had about two years to learn English, graduate and
adjust to life outside the homeland he had fled in the bottom of
a fishing boat.
Twenty years later, Nguyen is the first Vietnamese-American
trustee in the school district he entered as a refugee. The
soft-spoken social services analyst represents a dramatic shift
in a community that once largely ignored local politics,
focusing its energy instead on fighting communism abroad.
Already, his presence on the East Side Union High School
District board has had an impact on other Vietnamese parents,
who have at times felt alienated from local government. About
two dozen Vietnamese community members attended Nguyen's first
meeting as a trustee earlier this month -- an unusual showing.
The younger generation of Vietnamese-Americans is ``very gung-ho
about getting involved in politics because they're looking at
America as their home country,'' said Kim Singh, executive
director of the Asian American Public Policy Institute in Los
Altos. ``If you're not at the table, other people are going to
make decisions on your behalf.''
Nguyen's path to politics began last year. When a San Jose
police officer was cleared of wrongdoing in the shooting death
of Bich Cau Thi Tran, a rare, unified outcry arose in the
Vietnamese community. Older immigrants joined the younger
generation in condemning the shooting, in which the officer
mistook a vegetable peeler Tran waved at him for a cleaver.
Days after the officer was cleared, a group of about 20
concerned Vietnamese professionals gathered in an Evergreen home
and formed a group called Coalition for Vietnamese Americans.
Something had to be done to change local politics, they decided.
They needed an elected official to make their voices heard.
They interviewed candidates and checked their backgrounds, then
asked Nguyen, a 35-year-old counselor and longtime community
activist, to run for a seat on the East Side Union High School
District board.
The coalition cut its teeth on Nguyen's campaign.
``This was the first race,'' said Arthur Bao, a co-founder of
the coalition. ``We all put in what our strengths were. One
member in the community was a Web developer. One person who had
a lot of contacts was a campaign manager. We had people in
charge of fundraising. If they could cook, they were in charge
of food.''
The coalition reached out to other Asian-American and Latino
groups and Nguyen became the first Vietnamese-American candidate
to win support from La Raza Roundtable, a prominent Latino
political group in San Jose.
Ultimately, Nguyen won one of two open seats in the hotly
contested race against incumbents Craig Mann and Juanita Ramirez
in November, placing him on the board of one of the county's
largest school districts -- serving 24,000 students, about one
in five of them Vietnamese.
Nguyen is not the area's first Vietnamese politician -- Madison
Nguyen (no relation) won election to the Franklin-McKinley
School District board two years ago. But East Side Union is more
than twice the size of Franklin-McKinley, which has Lan Nguyen's
supporters saying that his victory could have implications for
the future of city politics.
Lan Nguyen was looking to the future when he decided to step up
and run for the post.
``I want my children to be able to grow up later and inherit
something that's good in the district,'' he said. His wife,
Polly Tran, gave birth to their first child, Connor Viet Nguyen,
three weeks before the election.
Nguyen was born in Vietnam, the oldest of four children. When
the communist government wanted to put his father in a
re-education camp after the war, father and son decided to flee.
Six times, their efforts failed -- cheats took their money but
did not provide a boat for escape, or authorities caught wind of
the plans. But the seventh time, an aunt connected the pair with
fishermen who were allowed to leave Vietnamese waters; the two
escaped by hiding with about 50 others in the ice-lined cargo
hold of a 10-by-30-foot fishing boat.
Eventually they arrived at a U.S. naval base, and because
Nguyen's father had been an officer in the South Vietnamese
army, they were invited to come to the United States.
Nguyen's father worked 16- and 18-hour days in restaurants,
saving enough money to bring over Lan's mother, sisters and
brother. They arrived eight years later.
Nguyen's life experiences have influenced what he wants to
accomplish on the school board. Parental involvement is
increasingly important in schools, he said. His father worked
long hours for their survival, so Nguyen knows how little time
many immigrant families have to check homework and attend
teacher conferences. He intends to speak on Vietnamese-language
radio at least once a month to give updates on what's happening
in the district.
And Nguyen's experience has shone through in other ways.
During his first private school board meeting, the five board
members considered several expulsion cases, including some
Vietnamese students. When parents were present, Nguyen was able
to ask questions and address their concerns without the usual
need for an interpreter. In another case, a male student arrived
with a young woman who said she was his 22-year-old sister, and
that she would speak for the family because their parents had to
work.
Board members were skeptical, said the board's president, J.
Manuel Herrera -- until Nguyen explained that in Vietnamese
families older siblings often assume such duties.
``His voice is unique in the policy deliberations of the
board,'' Herrera said. ``It helped us to respond in a more
sensitive manner.''
Contact Jon Fortt at
jfortt@mercurynews.com
or (408) 278-3489.
(http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/10458495.htm)
******************
About NCVA
Founded in 1986, the National Congress of Vietnamese
Americans is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit community advocacy
organization working to advance the cause of Vietnamese
Americans in a plural but united America – e pluribus unum –
by participating actively and fully as civic minded citizens
engaged in the areas of education, culture and civil
liberties.
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