Six Asian American and Pacific Islander Serving Organizations are Awarded Capacity Building Grants

December 3, 2009

Six Asian American and Pacific Islander Serving Organizations are Awarded Capacity Building Grants

Washington, D.C. – Today, the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (National CAPACD) announced the selection of lead organizations to participate in their innovative capacity-building technical assistance program.  As the economic recession continues, non-profit agencies across the country struggle to meet the needs of the communities they serve.   Significant investments in community development organizations must be made in order to continue the momentum of organizing, lifting up and empowering community development practitioners working in underserved communities.  The six projects are:

* Guam Communications Network (GCN), Long Beach, CA, will be working with the Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team to develop an economic development needs assessment for the Pacific Islander communities of southern  California.

*South of Market Community Action Network (SOMCAN), San Francisco, CA, will be working the Veteran Equity Center to build the latter’s capacity in affordable housing advocacy at the local level, on behalf of Filipino American veterans who have been left out of federal housing programs due to their recent win over compensation for veterans’ benefits that were long overdue.

*Asian Economic Development Association (AEDA), St. Paul, MN, will develop economic development strategies to help mitigate the negative impacts of the development of a light rail in St. Paul on local API small businesses.

*Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC), Los Angeles, CA, will work with the Korean Resource Center (KRC) to implement a scattered-site senior housing development in Los Angeles’ Koreatown.

*Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA), Honolulu, HI, will provide assistance to Kahua, Inc. with the purpose of developing a self-help affordable housing program that is geared toward housing development on the Hawaiian Homelands.

*Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center (APALRC), District of Columbia, looks to build upon their work in D.C.’s Chinatown to begin linguistically appropriate tenant’s rights education to other limited English proficient API residents in the D.C. Metro area.

National CAPACD is thrilled to invest in significant projects such as these that will build the capacity of our network to directly reach and serve low-income AAPIs.  These six projects demonstrate the strength and innovation of AAPI-serving organizations in meeting the needs of their communities in tough economic times,” said Lisa Hasegawa, executive director of National CAPACD.

The ACTION Technical Assistance program is an innovative peer-to-peer technical assistance model of the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (National CAPACD), a Washington, DC-based national advocacy organization.  With continued support from the Citi Foundation, National CAPACD was able to start a new program year with the awarding of six capacity-building grants to organizations in targeted markets throughout the country.

With resources for significant investments into the affordable housing market absent, and the foreclosure crisis continuing, National CAPACD is swiftly responding by focusing their resources to build capacity in organizations seeking to address such crises in their neighborhoods and communities.  Through the ACTION Technical Assistance program, organizations seeking to partner in affordable housing development, housing counseling and asset building, community and neighborhood planning, community-based investment strategies, research and data advocacy, and small business support and workforce development were encouraged to apply for capacity-building support.   The program is an innovative peer-to-peer technical assistance program that lifts up the expertise of National CAPACD’s prominent member organizations conducting community development activities in low-income areas throughout the country.  Organizations partner with each other to deliver technical assistance and capacity-building skills to emerging organizations interested in increasing technical skills to conduct community development activities.

For more information on the ACTION Technical Assistance program, or the projects highlighted above, please contact Hieu Truong, National CAPACD program coordinator at 202-223-2442 or .

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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 (AAPI) populations.  Established by community development practitioners, National CAPACD has built a network of over 100 organizations and individuals in 17 states.  Our members use innovative affordable housing, community development and organizing strategies to improve the well-being of low-income AAPIs.

Press Contact: Romana Lee-Akiyama, National CAPACD
202-223-2442,