Northeast Ohio Asian-Women Leadership Initiative (NALI)

NALI involves a partnership with eight Asian ethnic women’s group, Jewish Family Service Association of Cleveland, YWCA of Greater Cleveland, and the Asian Pacific Islander Women and Family Safety Center (Seattle, WA) along with:

Association of Asian Indian Women in Ohio
Salaam Cleveland
Laotian Association of Cleveland
Chinese Women’s Association of Cleveland
Philippine American Society of Ohio
Korean American Association of Greater Cleveland
Guru Gobind Sikh Society of Ohio
Vietnamese Community of Greater Cleveland

The Initiative will:

1) Empower eight Asian immigrant and refugee women’s groups – often the first link to battered women in their respective ethnic communities – by working with groups to develop culturally and linguistically specific strategies and by providing training to the associations’ members so they are equipped to provide outreach and education to victims and their communities;

2) To strengthen the capacity of the region’s only pan-Asian social service agency – Asian Services In Action, Inc. (ASIA), to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate case management, supportive and immigration legal services, and systems advocacy for Asian immigrant and refugee women and their families; and

3) To strengthen Asian ethnic women’s groups and ASIA’s linkages to mainstream providers and court/law enforcement/medical systems to reduce barriers and to create greater points of access for victims.

In the northeastern Ohio region, representing nearly 40% of the state’s population (and 33% of state’s Asian Pacific Islander community), there is currently no domestic violence, sexual assault, and other services that specifically address the needs of Asian Pacific Islander immigrant and refugee women. In the region, it is estimated that 3,575 Asian Pacific Islander women experienced physical assault by an intimate partner at least once during their lifetime; and 2,081 reported having been raped.

For more information, please contact Kitty Leung (kitty.leung@asiainc-ohio.org)