ALBANY (May 16, 2024) --The Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF) and the 18% And Growing Campaign gathered nearly 200 community members, service providers, community leaders, advocates and elected allies on the steps of City Hall on Thursday morning to call on New York City and City Council to support a fair and equitable budget that centers the needs of New York’s most marginalized.

Representing over 30 different AAPI community-based organizations from across the five boroughs, the crowd joined in chants of “We are 18%” and “We need a fair and inclusive NYC budget” as they urged Councilmembers to support AAPI-led and -serving across the five boroughs of New York City, community members joined forces with City Council members at the vibrant gathering to call for an inclusive City Budget that protects the needs of all AAPI New Yorkers (New York City’s fastest growing racial population).  

“As the 18% and Growing campaign, we represent almost 100 AAPI-led and-serving organizations across New York City. We serve and support our diverse East, Southeast, South, and Central Asian communities and ensure our communities can get the culturally responsive and linguistically accessible services they need,” said CACF’s Co-Executive Directors Anita Gundanna and Vanessa Leung. “Our community is not a monolith and we will not let our needs continue to be swept under the rug. We are fighting for a fair, inclusive, and equitable budget that is not balanced on the backs of those who are struggling.”

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. Despite the AAPI community’s expansive growth and development, funding for AAPI communities in New York City has historically lagged behind. In Fiscal Year 2024, New York City invested less than 6% of total public dollars in AAPI communities of a $107 Billion City Budget. With a total population of over 1.2 Million AAPI New Yorkers, the budget unfortunately only invests $0.89 per capita which does not include undocumented and asylum seeking New Yorkers.

Throughout the rally, speakers centered the main points of the 18% and Growing campaign’s budget ask, which are:

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

The full list of speakers at Thursday’s rally is below:

Anita Gundanna and Vanessa Leung, Co-Executive Directors, Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF)

Felicia Singh, Director of Policy and Government Relations, CACF

Councilmember Susan Zhuang

Councilmember Shahana Hanif

Councilmember Alexa Avilés

Wai-Yee Chan, Executive Director, Homecrest Community Services

Susan Lee, Board Member, A Place for Kids

Usha Mehta, India Home

Medha Ghosh, Senior Coordinator for Health, CACF 

Riya Ortiz, Executive Director, Damayan Migrant Workers Association

Wayne Ho, President and CEO, Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC)

Chi Loek, former Executive Director, UA3

Tiffany Jade Munroe, Trans Justice Coordinator, Caribbean Equality Project

Clifford Robin Temprosa, Director of Public Policy, National Federation of Filipino American Associations ( NaFFAA)

Rachelle Ocampo, Charles B Wang Community Health Center (CBWCHC)

For more images by photographer Radhika Chalasani, please head here. For more information, please contact Lakshmi Gandhi, CACF's Senior Communications Coordinator, at lgandhi@cacf.org.

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