CPC July 2011 Newsletter

issue 4 vol 9

In This Issue

CORE Manhunt

ESL Class for Disconnected Youth

Literacy Program Cuts

Budget Cuts to SCEP

Upcoming Events

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2010 CPC Annual Report

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About Us

Founded in 1965, the Chinese-American Planning Council, Inc. (CPC) is one of the largest nonprofit providers of educational, social, and community services for Asian Americans in the United States. It now serves over 8,000 people daily through some 70 programs in 29 locations citywide. CPC's mission is to improve the quality of life of Chinese-Americans in New York City by providing access to services, skills, and resources toward the goal of economic self-sufficiency and integration into the American mainstream.

CPC Central Office
150 Elizabeth Street
New York, New York 10012
(212) 941-0920

www.cpc-nyc.org

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Volunteer CORE Ultimate Manhunt

manhunt 2011

The CPC Volunteer CORE organized their last fundraising event of the school year by hosting the Ultimate Manhunt on Sunday, June 26. This event was located in the lower half of Central Park with its home base located in Sheep Meadow.

Each team must search for 11 runners using a limited amount of clues identifying the physical appearance of those 11 mysterious runners. There were 18 teams (100+ youth) who attended the Ultimate Manhunt. The volunteers worked hard on their event and it was "absolutely amazing seeing them [volunteers] come up with the idea and then tackle all the obstacles in their way which allowed me to see what they are capable of", said Joe McGowan, the Volunteer Coordinator of 2010-2011's school year CORE group. They raised over $275, which will support the CPC Volunteer & Internship Program (VIP).

The Volunteer CORE is a part of the CPC Volunteer & Internship Program (VIP), which encourages youth to develop and exercise their leadership skills by organizing community service days and fundraising events. For more information on the CPC VIP please visit us on Facebook.

- Written by Hong Pan

ESL Classes for Disconnected Youth Going to College

sat logo

Project Gateway has been striving to empower youth to make one of the most important decisions in their life - college. Project Gateway has established a free ESL pilot program to further provide an instrument to take advantage of higher education. Project Gateway has begun to recognize recent immigrants that have encountered a daunting language barrier and seek to alleviate this with the summer course.

Project Gateway is expecting a class of fifteen young adults, which will be comprised of immigrants who have been in the United States for less than 2 years. These students are disconnected youth because they are not enrolled in the American school system and lack proficiency in English. This is further exacerbated when they are not required to take the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) because they are not required by the CUNY (City University of New York) system. As a result, Project Gateway aims to provide an insight on higher education's expectation of their English capabilities and enrich their college experience.

For more information on Project Gateway's ESL classes, please contact Jennifer Ja (jja@cpc-nyc.org)

- Written by Harris Leung

Literacy Program Cuts

workforce city hall park rally

The CPC Literacy Program has been supporting immigrants since 1999. The program has helped them assimilate into their communities and adapt to changes. As America's immigrant population grows, the need for English Literacy becomes stronger.

Jobseekers and parents alike must communicate with the people around them and their children, but there are many immigrants who never had the need and time to learn the language. Many of those parents are becoming more disconnected to their children because they cannot communicate with them. The Literacy Program helps them break the language barrier which is holding them back from communicating with their children and finding a better job in United States.

The budget for Literacy Programs in New York City was almost taken away last year, but 60% of the budget was restored which kept the program afloat. This fiscal year, funding for Literacy Programs in NYC will be cut from $5 million to $2 million which means smaller classes for some organizations and suspension for others. Sadly, CPC's Literacy program is one of the many that will be suspended until sufficient funding is raised to restore the program.

To support the CPC Literacy Program, please contact Simon Chiew (schiew@cpc-nyc.org)

- Written by Eric Feng

Budget cuts to SCSEP

senior aide program

CPC's Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) caters to low-income citizens of age 55 or older by providing them with job opportunities in non-profit and public organizations. This program supports CPC's mission in enhancing and facilitating the lives of Chinese-Americans, by serving those with poor employment prospects possibly due to language barriers. The participants are offered subsidized, community service and work-based training before being placed into a wide variety of establishments not only within CPC. Some of these facilities include day-care centers, senior centers, schools, and hospitals.

Unfortunately, SCSEP's budget has been cut by 45%. The budget for the previous fiscal year (2010-2011) to fund SCSEP was $825 million, which allowed participants to work roughly 20 hours per week. SCSEP's funding this fiscal year (2011-2012) is now reduced to $449.1 million, only allowing participants to work 12 hours per week. Consequently, the seniors in this program are constantly worrying about how to make ends meet.

If you have any questions regarding the SCSEP, please contact Penny Shen (pshen@cpc-nyc.org).

- Written by Janice Wong

Upcoming Events at CPC

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