New York, NY - The Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF) is pleased to announce that discretionary funds allocated to Asian Pacific American-led and serving organizations by the New York City Council for Fiscal Year 2020 increased by a little over $500,000 as compared to FY 2019, with a total of $2,927,900. This year, 74 APA-led and serving organizations were awarded discretionary funding, an increase from 56 organizations awarded in FY 2019. However, it is important to note that our organizations only received 4.37% of the total discretionary funding for FY 2020, a decrease from 5.06% for FY 2019. In addition, while more organizations in Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, Queens received higher amounts and percentage of discretionary funds than last year, no organization in Staten Island received any.

Anita Gundanna and Vanessa Leung, Co-Executive Directors of the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families , stated, “ We are pleased to see an increase in the total amount of discretionary funding to organizations that provide critical services to the APA community and communities across NYC. However, we want to ensure that as our community expands that the level of funding rises to meet our growing needs. Our organizations are frequently the only ones who provide quality language accessible and culturally competent services necessary for our communities’ survival and growth. We are committed to continue collaborating with Council Members to help assess and address the complex needs of the APA communities that make up the fastest growing population, by percentage, in New York City.”

Beatrice Chen, Executive Director of Immigrant Social Services, said, “We are grateful to City Council for the increase in total funding for APA-led and serving organizations and look forward to continue working with Council Members to surface the complex needs and realities of our community that may not be as visible within the dominant narrative and analysis. We believe that enabling APA-led and serving organizations to increase and expand critical services to Asian Pacific American New Yorkers today will result in ever-growing positive returns to New York City for generations to come.”

Jeehae Fischer, Executive Director of the Korean American Family Service Center (KAFSC), stated, “KAFSC is pleased to see the increase in total discretionary funding for Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs)-led and serving organizations by the New York City Council for Fiscal Year 2020. Although we are grateful for the acknowledgement and action taken by the City Council for our community, we know that more work can be done. KAFSC is looking forward to working with our Council Members to increase and expand funding so that we can continue to provide much needed culturally sensitive and linguistically competent programs and services.”

“Although we are encouraged by an increase in overall funding for our communities from the previous year, we are concerned that the percent of discretionary funding awarded to AAPI led and serving community-based organizations dropped,” said John Park, Executive Director of MinKwon Center for Community Action. “As the fastest growing ethnic minority population in the City, which also has the highest rate of poverty in addition to language barriers, we need more resources and funding that scales with the growing needs of our growing communities."

Sudha Acharya, Executive Director of the South Asian Council for Social Services (SACSS), stated, "We are happy to see an increase in discretionary funds for Asian Pacific American (APA) communities across NYC. These funds help immigrant-serving CBO's provide comprehensive health, social, food security, and community learning services to hard-to-reach immigrant families. It's important to continue advocating until we receive a fair share of City funds. The South Asian Council for Social Services (SACSS) looks forward to working with City Council on ensuring that the demands of the fast-growing South Asian community are met."

"Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) continue to be the fastest growing racial group in the nation, and while CPC applauds the increase in total money that the City Council awarded to AAPI-led and serving organizations, we know that an increase in funding does not always represent an increase in overall spending or a decrease in need," said Wayne Ho, President & CEO of the Chinese-American Planning Council. "CPC celebrates this important win and recognizes more can still be done to meet the needs and tailor services for our communities. We thank our allies in the City Council, particularly the 21 Council Members who have included AAPI organizations in their designations. We look forward to advocating for increased equity and visibility in the year ahead."

The Asian Pacific American community looks forward to continuing its partnership with the City Council in order to best address the needs of the community.