Archive for March, 2010

Asian Services In Action, Inc. is pleased to announce that 2010 Census Questionnaire Support became available to our communities.  Any members  from our communities who speak Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Spanish or Russian can be assisted in filling out the Census questionnaire in their own languages at our two locations.  The logistics are as follows:

Akron office -on Monday, Wednesday, & Friday from 12:30pm-5:30pm.

Cleveland office – on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday from 9 am to 12pm, and on Friday from 1 pm to 6pm.

If you have any question, please direct your inquiries by calling 330-535-3263 (Akron office) or 216-881-0330 (Cleveland office).

ASIA is pleased to announce Gothai Jayaraj as its Program Assistant in Community Health Promotions and Allison Arsouzy as the Program Assistant for Northeast Ohio Asian Women’s Leadership Initiative (NALI), a domestic violence resource and prevention project.  The agency also welcomes Bishnu Samal, Nar Pradhan, Ea Hal, and Monarath Adhikari as Program Assistants in the Newcomer Family Support Center; and Heather Morris to Program Assistant position with the Children, Youth & Family’s ICEP Program (International Community Empowerment Project).

The organization is also happy to announce that Eunice Park has been promoted to the new Program Coordinator position for NALI and Yoon Kim as ASIA’s new Community Legal Advocate/General Counsel.

Welcome Gothai, Allison, Bishnu, Nar, Ea, and Monarath; and congratulations Eunice and Yoon!

The Woodruff Foundation awarded Asian Services In Action, $15,000 to support the Asian Mental Health Initiative (AMHI), a project that reduces the linguistic and cultural barriers to mental health services for Asian Americans and provides education and awareness to the broader Asian American community to de-stigmatize mental health issues and to promote help seeking norms, attitudes and behaviors.

“Language and culturally appropriate mental health services in the Asian American is a major unmet need in our communities.  ASIA regularly receives calls from families and individuals in distress with little or no options for treatment and support.  With the Woodruff Foundation’s generous gift, we hope to begin to address this critical service void,” said Michael Byun, ASIA’s Executive Director.

During this pilot project year, AMHI will conduct a series of mental health workshops that are linguistically and culturally appropriate for the Asian American population in Cuyahoga County. The goal is to reach 200 people.

About Asian Services In Action (ASIA)
Founded in 1995 by four immigrant women, the mission of ASIA is to empower Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Northeastern Ohio to access quality, culturally and linguistically appropriate information and services. The agency was founded under the premise that with the right support to individuals and families, the community will flourish and thrive. Annually, the organization touches over 4,000 lives through five program areas.

About the Woodruff Foundation
The Woodruff Foundation was established in 1986 to enhance, through financial support, the development and delivery of mental health services in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Specifically, the Foundation seeks to fund projects that will foster and enhance:
* the treatment of persons affected by mental disorders and chemical dependency
* educational programs related to mental health
* the coordination of mental health resources in the community
* research into the causes, nature and recurrence of mental illness
Given the rapid changes that are transpiring in local mental health and substance abuse services, the Trustees have adopted the following as high priority areas of interest:
* encouraging the implementation of innovative prevention and treatment programs
*strengthening the effectiveness of existing service delivery systems
Visit:  www.fmscleveland.com/woodruff

The Northern Ohio Golf Charities Foundation (NOGCF) awarded $22,000 to ASIA for the purchase of a passenger van to reduce the transportation barrier for clients who wish to access valuable programs and services to improve their lives.

“According to formal and informal assessments conducted over the years, transportation consistently ranks one of the top reasons why ASIA clients cannot regularly attend programs and services.  This is especially true for older adults with limited mobility and for youth who have parents working non-traditional hours (second or swing shifts) and are still too young to drive.  We are grateful to NOGCF for this generous gift,” said Mao Vue, ASIA’s Manager of Programs and Operation.

The van will used to transport youth to and from ASIA’s after school and summer mentoring, tutoring and enrichment programs; support the weekly transportation of older adults to congregate meal and wellness activities; and help work-ready adults continue to attend critical ESOL (English Speakers of Other Languages) classes and skills-training workshops.

About ASIA
Founded in 1994 by four immigrant women, the mission of ASIA is to empower Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Northeastern Ohio to access quality, culturally and linguistically appropriate information and services. The agency was founded under the premise that with the right support to individuals and families, the community will flourish and thrive.  Annually, ASIA touches the lives of over 4,000 people through its five program areas.

About Northern Ohio Golf Charities Foundation
Visit:  www.nogcf.org