Sabaidee!
The Lao Assistance Center was formed by ethnic Lao refugees in 1981 and attained its nonprofit charitable status in 1983. It was founded to respond to the emerging needs of newly arrived Lao refugees who were not Hmong and provided services in employment, housing, citizenship, and English as a Second Language.
As our needs lessened and significant parts of the community began to successfully adapt to our new home, newer issues and lessons were learned.
This necessitated a shift in program development to continue to meet the needs of the Lao community as it exists today. While previous needs such as employment and citizenship continue to exist, new needs were expressed.
These included health, elders, problem gambling and, increasingly mental health.
The end result is a community with a spectrum of needs requiring a range of resources, more often than not requiring linguistic and cultural accessibility. Over 15,000 Lao persons have been served by LACM since its inception. Our offices are located in North Minneapolis in the Harrison neighborhood. The organization delivers services primarily in Hennepin County. Most of the persons served live in or near North, South, or Southeast Minneapolis; the southern suburbs of Richfield and Bloomington; and, the northern suburbs of Brooklyn Center, Crystal, Brooklyn Park and Champlin.
Programs and services are also offered in other counties of the Seven County Metropolitan Area and statewide as requested.
This blog is an ongoing journal of stories, success and opportunities affecting our community! We look forward to having you join us in the years ahead! Khop jai!
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