PRESIDENT OBAMA SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER FOR THE WHITE HOUSE INITIATIVE ON ASIAN AMERICANS AND PACIFIC ISLANDERS

In a ceremony on October 15th at the White House, President Barack Obama signed an Executive Order reestablishing the White House Initiative on Asian American Pacific Islanders (the Initiative) and in doing so demonstrated a federal level commitment to improving the lives of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) throughout the United States.

The Initiative was first established during the Clinton Administration in 1999 and was initially housed in the Department of Health and Human Services and then later in the Department of Commerce. Under President Obama, the Initiative now officially moves to the Department of Education. As President Obama stated during the signing ceremony earlier today, the mission of the Initiative is to “work with 23 agencies and departments across our government to improve the health, education, and economic status of AAPI communities.” The Initiative and the Commission will be co-chaired by the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, and the Secretary of Commerce, Gary Locke.

While President Obama talked today about the many strengths of the AAPI communities, he also acknowledged that significant obstacles still face many AAPIs. He discussed health and educational disparities, as well as high poverty rates and language access challenges, all issues that are of importance to Southeast Asian Americans, and issues that the Initiative will work to address.

“SEARAC commends President Obama for reestablishing the White House Initiative on Asian American Pacific Islanders. This is an exciting moment and an important indication that the Obama Administration takes the concerns of our diverse AAPI communities seriously. We recognize that the challenges facing many in our communities are great, and the Initiative will need support and active cooperation from all communities around the country. We look forward to our partnership with the Initiative,” states Doua Thor, Executive Director of the Southeast Asian Resource Action Center.

The Lao Assistance Center also recognizes the significance of this moment and is pleased that the Obama Administration takes the needs and concerns of the AAPI communities seriously. "We look forward to seeing those interests reflected in emerging policy and opportunities," said Sunny Chanthanouvong, executive director for the Lao Assistance Center.

October 24th: Asian American & Pacific Islander Initiative Leadership Summit 2009

Asian American & Pacific Islander
Initiative Leadership Summit 2009:
Are We Relevant? Making a Case for Our Community

Free Leadership & Professional Development Training
Leadership Summit 2009 is designed for young professionals, non-profit staff and board leaders interested in honing their leadership skills to be the leaders to transform and lead their organizations or community.

Workshops are lead by professionals with extensive experience in leadership development.

Participants will receive:
-Free Leadership Assessment Test & Feedback to all participants
-Help leaders craft a 30 second leadership statement
-Help leaders craft a 30 second case statement for their community & organizations
-Free staff and board development training

Registration is FREE
RSVP to Council on Asian-Pacific Minnesotans at 651-757-1740 or jovita.bjoraker@state.mn.us

This summit is made possible through funding from Hennepin County, which provides support for the Hennepin County Asian American & Pacific Islander Initiative.

Agenda:
9:00 am Leadership Panel
10:00 am Leadership Assessment Survey
11:00 am Leadership Feedback
12:00 pm Industry Specific Discussions
-Private Industry
-Non-Profit Leadership
-Non-Profit Board Development
-Non-Profit Staff Development

This Week At The Lao Assistance Center: 10/12-10/16

This week, the Lao Assistance staff met with the staff of Project for Pride in Living and the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans to discuss issues of unemployment and community access to key job hunting resources.

Our offices were also visited by local political candidates running for several positions including the Parks and Recreation board. Earlier, on October 9th, the Lao Assistance Center was visited by members of the National Gender Equity campaign to discuss our progress in exploring issues of social justice in the community.

We also met with local Latin American community organizers regarding preparations for Census 2010. We're very excited about this important project and we hope all Lao will take part in the Census. We want to know how much our community has changed in 10 years!


We recently completed our quarterly report regarding our Southeast Asian Living Chemically Free program with Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council.

On Saturday, October 17th, Kinnary Pimpadubsee, the Lao Assistance Center Youth Coordinator will be meeting with youth to discuss issues of alcohol, tobacco and drug prevention and work with them to plan a youth forum in December.This will take place at 2PM at the Lao Assistance Center at 503 Irving Ave. N, Minneapolis, MN.

The Lao Assistance Center continues to offer one-on-one, group and family support sessions for individuals who wish to recover from alcoholism, drug use and smoking. If you are interested in these services for yourself or someone you know, call 612-374-4967.


Bounleuth Gowing, our Elder Access specialist, continues her work to assist Lao elders in Minnesota, helping them to participate in our community and to access the services and support they need. A growing concern for her is the number of isolated Lao women who are elders and how their needs can be met so that they can age with dignity. She recently met on October 2nd with Senator Mee Moua and other Minnesota politicians to advocate for changes in state policies for elders that were excluding the voice of immigrants and refugees. She presented a letter to Senator Moua outlining some of the Lao Assistance Center's deep concerns, drawing from both her personal observations as well as trends other communities are identifying.

The Lao Assistance Center continues to offer support for individuals facing issues of unemployment and housing foreclosure and is examining ways to strengthen its connections to agencies working at many different levels on this issue. We are continuing to support the project members of Lao Community Learning Change, an approach to empower at-risk, unemployed Lao men and women to develop key skills to effectively find work and improve conditions for workers in ways that allow them to spend more time with their families and community in order to escape multigenerational cycles of poverty.

The Lao Assistance Center is currently working to raise funds to bring several special projects to the Twin Cities, including classes in traditional Lao dance and music and the acclaimed play, Refugee Nation. The agency hopes to have great news to report to everyone soon.

With the recent snowfall in Minnesota, now is a good time to remind everyone to be careful when traveling and to be prepared in your automobiles as well as at home.

This Week At The Lao Assistance Center: 9/26-10/1

Saturday, September 26, 2009: Lao Community Forum: "Southeast Asians Living Chemically Free," C1 Buffet, 4pm to 7pm. Free to the public. 32 people showed up. Thanks for coming! The Community Forum was located at: 6090 Shingle Creek Pkwy Minneapolis, MN 55430-2316. Everyone had a great time and felt like they were informed about vital issues impacting the Lao Americans who wanted to be successful in life. A recurring idea was that alcohol and tobacco, and especially drugs were not a healthy part of that route to success in most cases.

Monday, September 28, 2009: Lao Chemical Health Support Group. "Success Series: Healthy Living Chemical Free," Lao Assistance Center, 11am to 1pm. 10 people showed up this week. For more information contact: kinnaryp@laocenter.org or call 612-374-4967.

Family & Client Support Group. Lao Assistance Center, 2pm to 4pm. 15 people showed up this week. For more information contact: phouninh@laocenter.org or call 612-374-4967.

The Staff of the Lao Assistance Center

Sunny Sinh Chanthanouvong, Executive Director
sunny@laocenter.org

Mr. Chanthanouvong has been with the Lao Assistance Center since 1992, starting as a Youth Specialist. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from Minnesota State University Mankato and is a certified interpreter and is fluent in Lao, Thai, and English. With extensive experience in social service, legal, community liaison, and administrative areas, Sunny Chanthanouvong has been the Executive Director since 2001. He is a member of the Minnesota Compulsive Gambling Advisory Committee and serves on the Minneapolis Human Rights Commission.


Phouninh Vixayvong, Chemical Health Coordinator
phouninh@laocenter.org
Ms. Vixayvong is the Executive Director of the Lao Women Association, an independent non-profit organization co-located with the Lao Assistance Center. A teacher both in Laos and in the Twin Cities, she has a Bachelors degree from Metropolitan State University and is a certified Chemical Dependency Counselor as well as a certified Compulsive Gambling Counselor. Working in the Lao community since 1985, she is well known and respected, particularly by Lao women. She is fluent in Lao, English, Thai, Vietnamese, and French.


Pany Siharath, Chemical Health Outreach Worker
Pany@laocenter.org
Pany Siharath has been a long-time board member of the Lao Assistance Center and one of its earliest volunteers. He became part-time staff in July, 2008. He has been a realtor and trained on issues of chemical health, unemployment and foreclosure prevention with NeighborWorks America. A former aviation specialist, he also has been a Bilingual Parent Liaison for the YMCA, working with youth and was also a liaison for Lincoln Elementary where he worked with Lao children and families until 2002. Pany Siharath is very well known and respected elder in the Lao community and also extremely qualified on issues of drug, alcohol and tobacco cessation issues. He is fluent in Lao, English, Thai and French.

Kinnary Pimpadubsee, Chemical Health Youth Cooridinator
Kinnaryp@laocenter.org
Kinnary Pimpadubsee has been a long-time board member of the Lao Assistance Center since 2004-2008 and has been a volunteer since 2000. She became part-time staff in 2009. She has been trained on issues of chemical health and youth leadership development. She was with the Youth Leadership Council on the Asian Coalition Against Tobacco from 2000-2008.  She has also been part of the steering committee of the Harrison Neighborhood Association working on neighborhood revitalization. Pimpadubsee studied graphic design and visual communication at Minneapolis Community and Technical College. Pimpadubsee is very active in the Lao community and also fluent in Lao and English.

Bounleuth Gowing, Special Access Worker
bounleuth@laocenter.org
Bounleuth Gowing has worked for seven years as a CHW at the Lao Assistance Center of Minnesota, located in Minneapolis. Shewas born in Laos, but has lived in Minnesota for 15 years. Her career has included work as a Certified Nursing Assistant (both here and in Laos), a Family Case Worker, and a Community Health Worker. Her current projects include outreach to isolated Lao elders.

Chongchith Saengsudham, Family Resource Specialist
chongchith@laocenter.org
Chongchith Saengsudham began volunteering at the Lao Center in 2002 and became full-time staff in January, 2005. She has a Bachelors of Arts degree in Library Science and is fluent in Lao, Thai, French and English. She has been an international business owner owning restaurants, movie theaters, gas station and a bookstore. She facilitates the Financial Counseling program, Income Tax assistance, and Tobacco Cessation.

Bryan Thao Worra, Administrative Support
Bryant@@laocenter.org
Bryan Thao Worra is an award-winning, internationally published author and community activist. He began working with the Lao Assistance Center in 2009. He has previously worked for three years in North Minneapolis on housing foreclosure issues with the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council. He has worked for over 10 years in the non-profit sector with Hmong National Development, the National Youth Leadership Council, Asian Media Access, Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly and the Hmong American Institute for Learning. He holds a Fellowship in Literature from the National Endowment for the Arts.

This Week at the Lao Assistance Center: July 20-24th

Elder Access staff member Bounleuth Gowing attended the national N4N Conference in Minneapolis to learn more about current and emerging health care issues for the elderly, particularly in regards to the Meals On Wheels program, how to better meet the needs of our community members and how to obtain the support we need to help others.

The Lao Assistance Center staff went to support CAPI, a local non-profit organization holding their fundraiser and community dialogue on refugees and immigrants at the acclaimed Weisman Art Museum. Representatives from Shades of Yellow, Mu Performing Arts and Asian Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy were also in attendance.

Chongchith Saengsudham and the volunteers of the DTV Assistance Center at the Lao Assistance Center are continuing to provide support for members of the community to obtain digital converter boxes during the national transition to HDTV. If you have questions, please feel free to call or stop by the Lao Assitance Center offices at 503 Irving Avenue North, Suite 100A in Minneapolis.

The staff members of the Southeast Asians Living Chemically Free program held a youth leadership meeting this week to work with Lao American youth to develop leadership skills and to understand the importance of living without abuse of drugs, tobacco or alcohol in their lives. If you or someone you know would like to be involved in the program, contact Kinnary Pimpadubsee at kinnary@laocenter.org or call (612) 375-4967.

Southeast Asians Living Chemically Free is holding a support group on Saturday, July 25th from 11am-2pm at the C1 Buffet at6090 Shingle Creek Pkwy in Minneapolis. The free support group is for Laotian Americans living in the Northwest Hennepin county region who are seeking help in recovery from alcohol, tobacco or drug usage. If you are interested in receiving more information on the support group or similar projects call Phouninh Vixavong at (612) 375-4967. Sessions will soon be available for clients and their families. Come back soon to learn more details!

Lao Assistance Center at Wat Lao Monticello!

Visit the Lao Assistance Center staff on Saturday, June 13th at the Wat Lao in Monticello! We'll be there to help celebrate Lao tradition and culture and to talk with members of the community about our programs including the effort to promote DTV awareness, the Census 2010 and our programs to assist elders and to help promote chemical health and prevent problem gambling. There will be many opportunities to learn how to live chemical free regarding alcohol, tobacco and drug use. And as always, you can always contact the Lao Assistance Center by e-mailing sunny@laocenter.org or calling 612-374-4967.