How organization’s grants will help census outreach in Sacramento’s API communities
A grant for census outreach in the Asian Pacific Islander communities in Sacramento announced its winners last week.
The grant, called the APIs Rise Fund, is a local group that aims “to increase the capacity and impact of Asian Pacific Islander philanthropic giving” in the Sacramento region. Grant founders May O. Lee and Elaine Abelaye-Mateo hope to fill the disparities in funding to the API population in the area and reflect its needs. As of 2014, about $140,000 has been raised through community efforts, said Christine Tien, the fund’s co-chair.
The money was raised via crowdfunding. Those who contributed can vote for grant winners.
The APIs Rise Fund received 11 grant proposals, Tien said. About $18,000 will be given to organizations ACC Senior Services, Iu-Mien Community Services, the Full Circle Project at Sacramento State University and OCA Sacramento Chapter.
Mona Tawatao, co-chair of APIs Rise Fund, said it is very intentional to “making APIs count.”
“Community-based organizations on the ground who know these communities ... it is for them to explain that, for every count, it is money going back to the needs of the community,” Tawatao said. “Getting past that fear and mistrust and understanding what that fear is all about is what we want to do.”
The organizations have different strategies to educate people about the importance of the census.
ACC Senior Services’ Poonie Holst said the care center wants to create a video featuring multiple Sacramento community leaders speaking in different languages to encourage people, especially seniors, to get counted. The video could be shown on iPads at events. It can help start the conversation and engage people about the census, as well as offering them help, Holst said.
“We want to highlight different languages we have at ACC so people see us as resources,” she added.
Kao Thun, executive director of Iu Mien Community Services, said they will use their grant for census outreach in the Iu Mien student conference March 11 at Sacramento State, where at least 300 people are expected to attended. The organization is also working with local and nationwide radio programs to reach to more Iu Mien people about the census.
“Sacramento (had) one of the largest Iu-Mien populations in the U.S. back in 2010, but we didn’t have enough people to do the census,” Thun said. “With this grant this year, we will work with community members and elder councils who know their respective neighborhoods.”
Timothy Fong, director of the Full Circle Project, said they will focus on reaching out to Sacramento State students. Nearly a third of the students at Sacramento State are first-generation, meaning none of their parents earned a university degree. Fong said they can learn about the census and then educate their parents and the community about its importance and encourage them to be counted.
OCA Sacramento, an Asian American advocacy organization, is focusing on tabling at events such as the API College Day at Sacramento State on Friday and a women’s leadership celebration Saturday, with fliers and staff members available to talk about the census, according to president Jinky Dolar.
ACC Senior Center and non-profit organization AARP will be hosting census workshops on April 1 at 2 p.m., April 10 at 1 p.m. and April 21 at 12:30 p.m. at their main campus. A questionnaire assistance center will be available from March 12 to April 30 for questions about the census. Call the center at 916-394-6399 to reserve a spot at the workshops.
This story was originally published March 3, 2020 at 5:00 AM.