NEW YORK (February 1, 2023) -- The Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF) and its 18% And Growing Campaign is set to kick off the 15th annual AAPI City Advocacy Week on Monday, February 27. Since 2009, the 18% And Growing Campaign has brought the issues affecting Asian American and Pacific Islander communities to the forefront as we push for a fair and equitable New York City budget that supports those who struggle the most.  Today, the 18% and Growing Campaign is a unified coalition of 90 AAPI-led and serving community-based organizations from across the five boroughs.

Throughout the week, in a series of meetings with Councilmembers and staffers, the members of the 18% and Growing Campaign will be highlighting the health, wellness, educational and language access needs of the AAPI community alongside the vital work our coalition’s CBOs do each day. Collectively, our organizations employ thousands and serves hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers each year.

“As we celebrate 15 tremendously successful years of City Advocacy Week, we also reflect on the incredible growth of New York City’s AAPI communities.  When we began what was then known as the 10% and Growing Campaign years ago, the voices of our community members were rarely heard in the halls of power. Now, as we’ve grown to represent 18 percent of the city’s population, we have seen AAPIs rise to all levels of government and our Coalition is frequently at the center of discussions involving our communities,” said CACF’s Co-Executive Directors Anita Gundanna and Vanessa Leung. “While this progress is worth celebrating, this City Advocacy Week, we are reminded of just how much we still have to do – especially in terms of getting AAPI New Yorkers who are most marginalized the critical, culturally responsive support they need.”

The name of the 18% and Growing Campaign hails from the fact that AAPI New Yorkers comprise more than 18% of the City’s population, and are the fastest growing racial community in New York City, State, and the country at large. But despite the growth of both the AAPI population and the reach of the 18% And Growing Campaign, funding for AAPI communities in New York City has historically lagged behind. In order to get our communities the support they need, the 18% And Growing Campaign will be advocating for the following critical funding needs during City Advocacy Week 2023:

1. Enhance the AAPI Community Support Initiative to $7.5 million to expand social services by AAPI serving community-based organizations to address the fiscal equity needed to build bridges between culturally competent and linguistically accessible services and the most vulnerable AAPI New Yorkers.

2. Enhance the Communities of Color Nonprofit Stabilization Fund (CCNSF) to $7.5 million to provide capacity building support to Black, Latinx, and AAPI-led community-based organizations.

3. Enhance the Access Health Initiative to $4 million to support community-based organizations (CBOs) who provide education, outreach, and assistance to marginalized New Yorkers on how to access health care and coverage.

“Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders make up 18 percent of New York City’s population, yet our communities rarely receive the funding and support they need to thrive,” said CACF’s Director of Policy and Government Relations Felicia Singh. “City Advocacy Week is an important opportunity to get the priorities of the 18% And Growing Campaign in front of elected officials so we can share our stories and our need for investment.”

The 18% And Growing Campaign includes CBOs from across New York City who have come together to advocate for a budget that is fair and equitable. They explain why equitable funding below.

“As a direct service provider led by South Asians from Pakistan we have seen how difficult it is for the smaller and growing community based organizations to navigate the city, state and federal systems in order to bring the needed resources for the communities we serve. The current systematic disparities and challenges make it difficult for CBOS to provide the much needed services and assistance to our constituents,” said Erum Hanif, CEO and Board member of Apna Brooklyn Community Center. “ There should be equitable distribution of resources, fair access and representation for the AAPI community based organizations to deal with food insecurity, health services, social, emotional, mental and cultural services for people of all age groups.”

Armenians in the U.S. continue to be erased in equitable allocation of resources, while issues of civil rights, immigrant rights, and refugee rights for our families continue to go unaddressed,” said Armenian-American Action Network Co-Director Sophia Armen. “We need to expand direct services for U.S. Armenians and other Asian communities including closing the gap between our families and culturally competent services.”

New York City is home to the largest Caribbean foreign-born population and the Afro- and Indo-Caribbean LGBTQ+ immigrants we serve at Caribbean Equality Project face unique challenges. Many have been abandoned by their families or have fled anti-LGBTQ+ hate violence, so they often do not have access to the family and community support networks that other immigrants rely on. This makes CEP’s services even more critical to our community,” said Caribbean Equality Project’s Founder and Executive Director Mohamed Q. Amin. “Working with the 18% and Growing Campaign and City Advocacy Week will amplify the intersectionality and growth of the diverse AAPI communities and our collective fight for fiscal equity, an investment in community-driven solutions to create thriving, sustainable immigrant communities.”

“The AAPI Community in NYC needs fiscal equity to have language accessible and culturally competent services,” said Stephanie Lau, Assistant Executive Director of CMP. “The vulnerable and underserved continue to arrive at CMP to get assistance with navigating the systems of workforce, entrepreneurship, social services, translation, education, and others.”

“Bengali womxn are overlooked. Until 2020, there was no Bangla language ballot in New York City elections, barring a large portion of our womxn from accessing polls and advocating for services. Even when we can access services, there are few linguistic and culturally accessible resources for our community,” said Sanjana Khan, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Laal NYC. “Laal stands in solidarity with 18% and the Growing Campaign in a fight for a fair budget that invests in the diverse needs of AAPI New Yorkers that closes the gap between our diverse community and critical social services.”

“The Southeast Asian refugee community’s history in the Bronx is grounded in struggle and resilience. After experiencing the traumas of war, we were resettled into already systemically disinvested communities,” said Mekong NYC's Executive Director Chhaya Chhoum. “Fiscal equity in New York City would allow for a thriving, empowered, and safe Southeast Asian community."

“The AAPI community continues to be underserved while the city continues to look to and lean on AAPI CBOs like Sapna to fill these gaps. At Sapna we get referrals almost every week from Jacobi, Elmhurst, Montefiore, Bellevue, ACS, and so many others looking for culturally competent, linguistically accessible mental health services, domestic violence support, in-language resources, interpretation, and so much more,” said Sapna NYC Executive Director Diya Basu-Sen.. “It's essential that we expand our services to meet the immense level of need and the only way to do that is through increased and sustained funding for our AAPI CBOs and communities.”

The Woman's Empowerment Coalition of NYC has played a critical role in promoting equity and racial justice for historically underserved communities. Arab women have experienced significant racism and under-service, and allocating funds towards building strong leadership development would enable the expansion of direct services and critical programming, while bridging the widening gaps between the Arab community and culturally competent social services,” said Somia El-Rowmeim, Executive Director of The Women’s Empowerment Coalition of NYC. “This approach would enable Arab women to advocate for minority communities, address systemic inequalities, and promote equity and justice. Empowering Arab women would foster strong partnerships with women from diverse communities and build a stronger and more effective coalition advocating for closer and more connected communities.”

For more information, please contact Lakshmi Gandhi, CACF’s Senior Communications Coordinator at lgandhi@cacf.org.