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Happy New Year!
As we prepare for Lunar New Year, the Asian CDC looks
forward to a exciting and prosperous year of working
towards a better life for Asian Immigrants and Asian
Americans throughout the Greater Boston area.
As we move forward with our new strategic plan, we are
working hard to reach out to diverse communities
throughout the region. Below you'll see ways we are
bringing people together to identify needs, map
community assets, and look for ways we can work together
to build better communities. We invite you to get to
know us better, to get involved with our work, and to
share in our successes.
Best wishes for the Year of the Pig!
Sincerely,
- ACDC Staff and Board.
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MetroFuture
Charting a course for regional growth
Please Join the Metropolitan Area Planning Council
(MAPC) and the Asian Community Development
Corporation (ACDC) for a special Forum:
MetroFuture
March 13th, 5:30-7:00 PM
The Metropolitan Community Room
38 Oak Street, Boston, MA 02111
MAPC along with ACDC and other Greater Boston
organizations from the Asian immigrant and Asian
American community invite you to a special forum
on MetroFuture, a regional initiative to develop a
plan to guide the region’s growth through 2030.
Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial
group in Boston and the state. Hosting a briefing
on the MetroFuture findings specifically for Asian
Americans will help our organizations and leaders
gain perspective about the trends that will have
the greatest impact on our communities. By
outreaching to our communities, the MetroFuture
data will be more widely read and understood, and
thus considered in all walks of life.
Did you know if current trends continue to 2030:
- Foreign born residents will make up almost a
quarter of Metro Boston’s population?
- Our region is on track to add 465,000 people
by 2030, and 240,000 jobs?
- We will have more diversity as minorities
grow to almost one-third of the population, but
increased segregation if existing conditions
persist?
How do YOU want Metro Boston to grow through
2030? Join us at a briefing for MAPC’s MetroFuture
project, where you will:
- Learn about four different paths that the
region’s growth and development could follow
through 2030; and
- Tell us which one you want for the region.
Please RSVP to Sophea Khem at
sophea.khem@asiancdc.org by March 9th.
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Lynn Community Dialogs
Mapping community Needs/Assets to chart course
for Future
ACDC and Khmer Advocates of the North Shore (KANS)
convened fifteen Lynn Cambodian community members
on January 28th to discuss pressing needs for the
Cambodian community in this area, map existing
resources, and talk about where they’d like to see
the community head in the future. For ACDC, the
conversation was a way for us to get a better
understanding of what the Cambodian population is
going through and explore ways we might be able to
help.
Some of the major concerns that came out of the
conversation included the disconnect of the Khmer
community from the general population, immigration
issues such as citizenship and deportation, a lack
of accessible housing education, an insufficient
affordable housing supply, the rise of youth gang
violence, and the large generation gap that exists
between Cambodian parents and their children. Most
of the resources identified by the group were
people who make up the Cambodian community:
doctors, lawyers, police officers, monks, pastors,
youth workers, bankers, etc. In addition, the
meeting brought to light resources which people
had already created such as translated practice
citizenship tests for family members and close
friends, though such resources haven’t yet been
widely distributed to the community as a whole.
Meeting attendees identified next steps such as a
Khmer directory of service agencies and
professionals, a funder’s tour to introduce the
community to foundations and corporate funders,
bi- lingual homebuyer workshops, and future
meetings to continue these fruitful dialogs.
For more information about this or future
Community Dialogues, please contact Sophea Khem at
Sophea.Khem@asiancdc.org
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Emergency Preparedness Workshops
ACDC partners with City, local agencies, &
residents to prepare residents for disasters
Recent years have brought hard lessons for local,
state and federal authorities who found themselves
ill-prepared for disastrous events ranging from
devastating hurricanes to terrorist attacks.
Katrina, in particular, showed how lack of
preparation and adequate outreach to all
communities can turn a bad situation into a
tragedy- especially for low-income and
non-English-speaking populations. In an attempt to
help all Boston residents understand and prepare
for emergencies, the City of Boston and health
agencies have compiled basic information and
collaborated with local communities to outreach to
diverse communities.
Here in Chinatown, ACDC has been on the frontline
of community organizing to effectively get the
word out, especially to low income and immigrant
families. Our Community Organizer, Alex Zhang,
took the lead on behalf of The Chinatown Coalition
in conducting emergency planning workshops,
disseminating informational materials and
providing resources contact information and
emergency supplies provided by the city. So far,
we have educated hundreds of families through
almost a dozen workshops in three languages
(English, Mandarin and Cantonese).
In coming months, we plan to offer these workshops
to suburban Asian communities as well. We will
start in Malden where we have been invited by the
local Asian community to conduct an Emergency
Planning workshop for 40 Asian families in
Mandarin. For more information on how you can
participate or get involved, please contact
Alex Zhang.
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Community Events
For an excellent compendium of Chinese New Year
links of events and resources go to the
Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau’s
website.
Feb 18- Lunar New Year's day (The Year of
the Pig)
Feb 25-Chinatown
Chinese New Year Festival
Time: 11:00am - 5:00pm, Free Admission
Feb 25- Quincy Lunar New Year Festival
N. Quincy High, 11a-4p, by Quincy Asian Resources
Inc.
Feb 27- Discussion with Richard Howard, Mayor,
City of Malden
regarding the emergence of the Asian American
Community in Malden.
AACA, 200 Tremont Street
Please RSVP: rsvp@ aaca-boston.org or
617- 426-9492 x 312
www.aaca- boston.org
March 10- Mini Asian Job Fair
Quincy College
10a - 12p,
34 Coddington St., Quincy
617-770-3310
FREE admission, business attire, bring plenty of
resumes
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We welcome your comments, and even more, we welcome
your participation in our work, whether it be as a donor,
a volunteer, or a member. One of the biggest things you
can do right now is help us spread the word about the
accomplishments in this newsletter. Please take a moment
to use the link at the bottom of the page to forward this
message to others who should hear our news so they can
sign up for this service as well!
Thanks for your support!
Sincerely,
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