Collaborative Letter to New York State for $10 Million Budget Allocation to AAPI Community Based Organizations
June 25, 2021
Dear Governor Andrew Cuomo, State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, and State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins:
We, the undersigned Asian American-led and -serving organizational leaders – representing the collective that advocated for this funding package – are grateful for your support of the first-of-its kind $13 Million New York State investment in the diverse Asian American community at this challenging time, including $10 Million for Asian American-serving community-based organizations.
We stand united as an Asian American community and write to share with you a collaborative budget proposal for the $10 Million of funding for Asian American-led and -serving community based organizations providing violence prevention and other community-based services to help address the growing needs of our communities across NY State. In the face of growing anti-Asian violence, our community’s recovery and healing must be rooted in the life-affirming community based organizations (CBOs) that are often the only safety-net for so many Asian American New Yorkers. Our CBOs have built trust with our diverse communities; hire and employ thousands from within the community; and have the knowledge and understanding of how our communities heal. Yet, Asian American CBOs continue to commit countless un-funded hours and organize thousands of volunteers to help community members.
A $10 Million commitment by NY State will be invaluable to our CBOs. The proposed budget below reflects 2/3 of $15 Million, which was the original community-based organization allocation of the $19.5 Million budget package we collectively advocated for. Our proposal includes multiple lines of funding to specific community organizations, AND also funding to create a Statewide Asian American CBO Fund, which will be distributed through an expedited RFP process open to organizations across all of NY State. The list of potential organizations for this CBO Fund are in progress – we are happy to take suggestions from members across New York State. CACF, as the designated administrator of this fund, has years of experience with sub-awarding State contracts and is prepared to support smaller organizations across our diverse Asian American communities.
Again, our thanks for this clear commitment from NY State to Asian American community-based organizations that stand poised to best support our communities now and into the future, as we heal and recover not only from the COVID-19 pandemic, but also from the recent uptick in anti Asian violence. Our organizations and communities have been waiting and ready for this allocation since the budget approval. We look forward to implementing this funding as soon as possible and to ensuring Asian American New Yorkers receive the support they need to recover and heal.
Sincerely,
Alan van Capelle, Education Alliance
Anita Gundanna and Vanessa Leung, Coalition for Asian American Children and Families Annetta Seecharan, Chhaya CDC
David Garza, Henry Street
Isabel Ching, Hamilton Madison House
Jeehae Fischer, Korean American Family Services Center
Jennifer Sun and Thomas Yu, Asian Americans for Equality
John Park, MinKwon Community Center
Joyce Moy, Executive Director, AAARI CUNY
Kaushal Challa, Charles B. Wang Community Health Center
Kavita Mehra, Sakhi for South Asian Women
Linda Lee, Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York, Inc
Margaret Fung, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund
Melissa Aase, University Settlement
Pabitra Khati Benjamin, Adhikaar
Robert Cordero, Grand Street Settlement
Therese R. Rodriguez, APICHA Community Health Center
Wayne Ho, Chinese-American Planning Council
Yasmeen Hamza, Womankind
