The Boston Foundation’s Asian Community Fund (ACF) recently allocated $450,000 to 52 AAPI-focused nonprofit organizations and surpassed $1 million in grants in the fund’s history, according to a press release by the Boston Foundation.
Topping last year’s highest allocation of $275,000, ACF aimed to address the issues brought forth in the Asian Business Empowerment Council’s report on AAPI business barriers, as previously reported by AsAmNews. Issues shared by AAPI business owners in Massachusetts included language barriers, unfamiliarity with grant applications, and fear of financial and governmental institutions.
The grants went mostly towards cultural heritage, to which ACF allocated $85,000, according to the press release. The next two highest-earning categories were mental and behavioral health and business outreach/entrepreneurship, which received $75,000 and $70,000, respectively.
Here were this year’s top grantees who received $15,000 or more in ACF funding:
The Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence (ATASK) is a United Way-affiliated group based in the Greater Boston and Lowell areas, according to ATASK. ATASK’s services include temporary housing, legal assistance, medical care, and counseling, regardless of immigration or marital status. Seeking to break down financial and language barriers, these services are free of cost and can be provided in the following non-English languages as of October 2022: Arabic, Bangla, Cantonese, Chiu Chau/Teochew, Filipino, Gujarati, Hindi, Indonesian, Khmer, Korean, Lao, Mandarin, Manipuri, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Thai, Taishanese, Taiwanese, Toisanese, Urdu, and Vietnamese.
- Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center – $25,000
The Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC) specializes in familial assistance for recent Asian immigrants in Greater Boston and the South Shore, including childcare, education and employment support, and access to arts-and-culture–oriented health and wellness services, according to BCNC.
- Greater Boston Chinese Golden Age Center – $25,000
The Greater Boston Chinese Golden Age Center assists Chinese-speaking Asian elders with a focus on ensuring their autonomy and comfort. Their services include nutritional support, healthcare, citizenship assistance, and English as a Second Language courses, according to the Golden Age Center.
- India Society of Worcester – $15,000
The India Society of Worcester (ISW) serves those of Indian descent and those interested in Indian culture who are based in New England. Through cultural showcases and activities, the ISW is also a space for Indian Americans to reconnect with their heritage and elders, according to the ISW.
The Southeast Asian Coalition of Central Massachusetts (SEACMA) fosters the development of the local Southeast Asian community in Worcester, Massachusetts, and interacts with state and local governments on behalf of Southeast Asian immigrants and refugees, according to SEACMA.
- Women of Color Entrepreneurs – $15,000
Women of Color Entrepreneurs (WOCE) connects small cohorts of businesswomen of color with mentors, connections, and programming to help alleviate Boston’s racial wealth gap, according to WOCE. Programming includes its Asian Women Making an Impact speaker event.
The Chinese Association of Western Massachusetts (CAWM) started as a small gathering of local Chinese families but grew to become a cultural hub for cultural and community events and youth empowerment across western Massachusetts and northern Connecticut, according to CAWM.
- Boston Little Saigon– $15,000
Boston Little Saigon is a small neighborhood in Dorchester with a strong Vietnamese American presence that seeks to establish itself as a space for the Vietnamese language, culture, and people, according to Boston Little Saigon. After receiving approval from the Massachusetts Cultural Council to go ahead with development in 2021, its Board of Directors has been working towards developing resources in the area, the city of Boston wrote.
“As we celebrate this historic infusion of funding, we are also reminded of how far we still have to go to meet the needs of the Commonwealth’s AAPI community, which is amongst the fastest growing and most diverse in the state,” ACF Executive Director Danielle Kim said in the Boston Foundation’s press release. “We are grateful to our donors, friends, and partners who make it possible for ACF to mobilize resources to address longstanding needs and address systemic disparities.”
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