National CAPACD and Partners Deliver More Than 35,000 Signatures To Presidential Candidates

 

BOSTON, MA and CHICAGO, IL -- On Tuesday, October 16, National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (National CAPACD) and several of its local members in Boston and Chicago joined other partners of the Home for Good Campaign to deliver more than 35,000 signed postcards from voters across the country to the campaign headquarters of both President Obama and Governor Romney, to demand that they provide a plan to end the housing crisis and protect the dream of homeownership for all Americans.

 

National CAPACD and 30 of its local members and allies partnered with National Council of La Raza (NCLR), National Urban League, and other national organizations for the Home for Good campaign to engage voters and bring national attention to the devastating effects of the housing crisis in our neighborhoods.  With less than one month left until Election Day, the Home for Good campaign is asking both presidential candidates to share with voters how they would:

As part of the campaign, National CAPACD and community-based partners collected more than 2,500 signatures from Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities across the country. Along with other Home for Good partners, Ben Lau from the Chinese American Service League (CASL) and Hey Kyung Eum from the Korean American Resource and Cultural Center delivered postcards to the Obama campaign in Chicago. Vivien Wu from the Asian Community Development Corporation and Phi Tran from the Vietnamese American Initiative for Development also participated in delivering the postcards to the Romney campaign in Boston.

 

“CASL alone collected more than 300 signed postcards from Chicago’s Chinese American community, a clear indication that housing is still a critical issue for Asian American voters in Illinois,” said Ben Lau, Housing and Financial Education Manager from CASL, “In working with National CAPACD for this campaign, we see that AAPI communities across the country feel the same way. We look forward to hearing how the candidates plan to reform broken housing policies, protect pathways to homeownership, and keep our families in their homes for good.”

 

AAPI families are primarily concentrated in some of the hardest-hit metropolitan regions, have experienced steep declines in home prices, face barriers in accessing affordable housing, and have experienced a disproportionate number of foreclosures. Today, homeownership rates among AAPIs continue to lag well behind the average population. The Home for Good campaign aims to remind both candidates that voters are looking to them to advance housing policy reforms that revitalize neighborhoods and promote financial stability for low-income communities, expand access to affordable housing, and preserve what for many families is their largest singular asset—their home.

 

“Through the Home for Good Campaign, we call on both presidential candidates to directly address the critical housing issues facing AAPI neighborhoods today,” noted Lisa Hasegawa, Executive Director of National CAPACD, “The foreclosure crisis is still not over for thousands of families, and we expect the candidates to propose effective reforms that help homeowners today while preventing fraud and abuse going forward.”

 

National CAPACD's Home for Good Campaign partners include:

 

Asian-American Homeownership Counseling, Asian Americans for Equality, Asian Community Development Corporation, Asian Law Alliance, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance Las Vegas, Asian Services in Action, Chinatown Community Development Center, Chinese American Service League/Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community, Chinese Community Center, Center for Pan Asian Community Services, Chhaya Community Development Corporation, Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, Chinese Progressive Association, Faith Action for Comunity Equity, Filipino Americans for Justice, Hawaiian Community Assets, InterIm Community Development Association, Japanese American Citizens League, Korean American Resource and Cultural Center, Korean Resource Center, Lao Assistance Center on Minnesota, National Alliance to Nurture the Aged and the Youth, National Asian Pacific American Families Against Substance Abuse, OCA, Orange County Asian Pacific Islander Community Alliance, One America, Philadelphia Chinatown Community Development Corporation, Thai Community Development Corporation, Union of Pan Asian Communities, and Vietnamese American Initiative for Development.