Asian American Studies Center Press

2001-2002 Asian & Pacific Islander Community Directory Ninth Edition Published by University of California, Los Angeles Asian American Studies Center Press Paperback Edition: $15.00 The Community Directory is available for online search, click here. It has been integrated into the UCLA AASC's Links & AAS Resources section.

PURPOSE

The Asian and Pacific Islander communities are diverse and complex.

The United States 2000 Census recognizes 30 major Asian American ethnic groups which include recent Southeast Asian refugees, fourth-generation Japanese, Yonse, and indigenous Pacific Islanders. By the year 2020, the API population in the United States is projected to grow to 20 million. Unfortunately, mainstream media and policy makers have failed to look beyond the monolithic model minority racial stereotype.

The Asian and Pacific Islander Community Directory is a response to the ignorance of institutions which fail to recognizethe diversity and complexity of API communities, the Directory is a tool for community-based organizations to network and collaborate with other organizations, provide information, and refer their clients. Secondly, the Directory is useful to researchers, instructors, and students to establish internships, research pertinent issues, and develop curriculum. Third, the Directory encourages and facilitates outreach to API communities. And finally, the Directory increases representation of API voices in the media.

HISTORY

The Directory was initiated and developed by the Student/Community Projects (S/CP) unit of the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, to foster a stronger campus-community working relationship and to strengthen community-based research.

Since the first publication in 1980, the Directory substantially changed to reflect the growth in the amount of organizations serving API's in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, as well as incorporating suggestions from the community. With S/CP's commitment to offering an accurate representation of API's, the latest edition expanded the geographic boundaries to include Orange County, and included a growing list of organizations serving the Southeast organizations serving underrepresented groups based on ethnicity, gender, and sexaul orientation and service sectors.

SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

The general nature and parameters of the Directory are similar to previous editions. The Directory includes the following:

• primarily non-profit organizations (501(c)(3) status) which provide cultural, educational and/or social services with a specific focus on APIs.
• organizations involved in social or political advocacy around issues directly related to APIs.
• a geographic range of Los Angeles and Orange Counties.
• religious groups only if they offer general community or social services.
• multicultural and non-API specific organizations with significant committment to API communties.
• local branches of some natioanl or regional organizations.

USER GUIDE

The main body of the Directory is divided into three sections of organizations serving APIs. The first section lists university academic porgrams and student centers, followed by the media section. The remaining two sections is the alphabetical listing of community and social service organizations in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, respectively.

The Index provides access to the organizational listing in two ways; first, by ethnicity of the organization's targeted constituencies.

Several underrepresented ethnic groups include Chamoru/Guamanian, Hawaiian, Samoan and Tongan, under the Pacific Islander category; Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani and Sri Lankan under South Asian; Cambodian, Hmong, Indonesian, Laotian, Thai and Vietnamese under Southeast Asian; and Tibetan. The second group of organization listings is categorized by service area.

Depending on the misson and function of the organization, each organization is likely listed in more than one category.

TO ORDER A COPY OF THE BOOK

The book is available for $15.00 (paperback). Please click here to download the AASC Press Publications PDF for more information and ordering information.