Introduction

Located in Chinatown, New York City, the Indochina Sino-American Community Center was established in 1990. It was incorporated and granted tax-exempt status 501(c)(3) by the Internal Revenue Service in 1992. The Department of Taxation and Finance of the State of New York issued an Exempt Organization Certificate in the following year. In October 2003, the Center purchased and moved into our present site.

Mission

ISACC’s mission is to assist immigrants and refugees to integrate to society’s mainstream by providing them with programs, services, and activities to achieve economic self-sufficiency.

History

Located in Chinatown, New York City, the Indochina Sino-American Community Center was established in 1990. It was originally founded by a small group of refugees from Indochina who wanted to create a self-help organization that would help form a linkage with their past while helping refugees who came after them. Initially, the Center served mainly seniors offering ESL classes, naturalization services, and senior employment training. However, over time the Center has expanded to include services to the entire community. It was incorporated and granted tax-exempt status 501(c)(3) by the Internal Revenue Service in 1992. The Department of Taxation and Finance of the State of New York issued an Exempt Organization Certificate in the following year. Needing a larger space to accommodate the growth in clients and services, the Center moved from its original location at 81 Bowery. In October 2003, the Center purchased and moved into our present site.

After September 11th, the Indochina Sino-American Community Center was able to provide much needed services to the Chinatown community. We implemented a World Trade Center services program which included mental health assessments for area residents, entitlement and cash assistance, and community workshops. The community workshops educated the public about immigrants in the United States and were aimed at reducing backlash and discrimination towards this population. One of the most important programs developed after September 11th was the partnership with Pace University which expanded our ESL and computer and job development programs.

Today, we provide a broad array of services to people from Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mainland China, and other parts of Southeast Asia residing in the New York metropolitan area. Occupying over five thousand square feet, the Center includes offices, various recreation and education rooms, storage rooms, and a Buddhist sanctuary.

The Center is governed by a Board of Directors whose members are actively engaged in the community. Most are now retired from their former professions which include doctors, lawyers, former government officials, architects, and business owners. General elections are held every two years. Our funds stem from membership dues, private donations, corporate, and government funding.

Achievements

As a small agency within one of the largest cities of the world, we continue to fulfill the needs of the community within our reach. Founded the very people we aim to help, we are very capable and situated to help the refugee population of Indochina. Here are some of our achievements:

Train over 1,500 students each year in our ESL and computer classes.

Assist in the naturalization of 100 immigrants each year.

Over 300 clients are served each year in our Medicaid assistance program.

Sponsored the establishment of the first New York City bilingual Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).

Member of the Chinatown Partnership LDC, an economic development corporation led by a talented group of individuals dedicated to strengthening Chinatown as a center of commerce, business, culture, and tourism.

Formed partnerships with higher education institutions to provide better services to the community. We are working with New York University to perform a community health assessment, ATTAIN LAB to provide computer classes to the community, and Columbia University Medical College and other hospitals for health education.

Although we have had many achievements in our short history, we continue to look towards the future and seek new opportunities to help the community. We hope to offer more services to underserved Asian populations in the city, specifically the Vietnamese and Cambodian populations. In addition, we would like to expand our senior services so we can remember how this organization first began – as a Senior Services Center. Finally, we continue to emphasize the importance of our ESL program. The ability to learn English in the United States is vital to every immigrant’s integration and ultimately their economic success.