Community-Based Organizations

Caribbean Women’s Health Association (Brooklyn and Queens) http://www.aidsnyc.org/cwha/
The Caribbean Women's Health Association Inc. (CWHA), is a community based organization comprised of a membership association and four community service centers located in Brooklyn and Queens. The mission of CWHA is to provide comprehensive, culturally sensitive health care, immigration, and support services to a diverse constituency in central Brooklyn and Southern Queens. Current programs include: HIV/AIDS Education and Case Management, Comprehensive Immigration Services, Health Fairs, and Maternal Child Health Services.

Chinese-American Planning Council (Manhattan and Queens) http://www.chinatownweb.com/CPC/index.htm
Founded in 1965, CPC began as a grassroots community-based organization in response to the tremendous influx of Chinese immigrants after the change in immigration laws. CPC is one of the largest and most comprehensive social service providers serving the Chinese American population in the country. CPC provides services to over 6,000 people a day through its more than 45 programs in 26 facilities in the areas of culture and arts, economic empowerment, and housing development and management. CPC’s Community Services division offers a number of programs including Asian Family Services, Family Transitional Services, Asian Child Care Resources and Referral, the Family Resource Center, and the Early Intervention Program. CPC also provides employment and training services in the areas of literacy, hotel services, and clerical careers. CPC has been working with CANIMP on educational and research initiatives for the last four years.

Diversified Community Health Services
DCHS serves the English-speaking Caribbean population in New York City, specifically the Bronx. This population includes immigrants from Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados. DCHS services include health awareness education and screening for early detection of chronic diseases that typically affect the community, and referral and coordination for treatment. Under the directorship of Claudette Phipps, a registered dietician, DCHS works on the use of culturally-competent nutrition curricula for school health programs. DCHS has been a vital CANIMP partner, facilitating focus group research with the English-speaking Caribbean American community, and educational workshops.

Flatbush Haitian Center
FHC has a 22-year record of providing an array of services to the Haitian immigrant population, Caribbean-American immigrants, and local residents of New York City, specifically in Brooklyn. Originally organized to assist newly-arrived immigrant families and individuals, FHC has expanded over the years to include five sites. Presently, FHC provides integral culturally-appropriate services and programs that include day care, parenting, drug rehabilitation, youth development delinquency prevention, vocational training, adult literacy, and English as a Second Language (ESL). FHC serves as a “one stop” help center for the Haitian and other Caribbean communities within the East Flatbush and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn. Over the years, FHC has become an integral anchor to these communities, with more than 15,000 men, women, and children making use of its various programs offered each year. Flatbush Haitian Center has been a vital CANIMP partner as well, conducting numerous well-attended cancer education workshops and facilitating community outreach and screening.

Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York
http://www.kcsny.org/
The mission of the agency is to enhance the quality of life by identifying issues and problems facing Korean-American immigrant seniors, by facilitating communication between Korean-American senior population, governmental agencies and social service agencies, and by educating them to have tools to become self reliant. KCS has numerous community programs, including Public Benefits and Services, Housing Assistance, Health Services, Computer Training, and Palliative Care.

New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE)
http://www.nynice.org/
Founded in 1999, NICE is a cross-cultural, grass-roots non-profit organization that uses advocacy and public education to ensure that new immigrants are influential in civic, governmental and public affairs. NICE grew out of a campaign to reject anti-immigrant rhetoric, whereby immigrants in Jackson Heights-Queens organized a subway poster campaign to counter the divisive messages of the anti-immigrant group, Project USA. The coalition of immigrants saw an ongoing need for a support organization that could mobilize immigrant communities at the grass-roots level to combat anti-immigrant rhetoric, policies and laws and carry on a community-driven public education campaign around issues facing new immigrant communities. Hence, NICE was borne. NICE’s work includes (1) sponsoring conferences to inform immigrant communities on their rights and how to access neighborhood and other services and resources; (2) sponsoring workshops, trainings, and initiating community-led projects to educate new immigrant communities on issues such as voter education and civic participation and the impact and importance of the decennial census and to minimize the Census 2000 undercount among immigrant populations in Queens; (3) playing a significant role in numerous panels relating to topics such as bilingual education, community and political organizing, and advocacy for immigration reform; (4) utilizing both traditional methodologies and innovating new technologies to organize effective responses to anti-immigrant policies and practices; and (5) testifying before the New York City Council on a number of occasions and on a variety of topics.

NICE’s calendar of events: http://www.nynice.org/calendar/calendar.cgi

Project Reach Youth (Brooklyn)
http://www.pry.org/
Project Reach Youth, Inc. is a community-based organization founded in 1968 that provides education, counseling, and youth leadership development programs to help low-income children and youth advance in knowledge and skills, gain respect for themselves and others, and grow towards responsible adulthood. PRY serves nearly 7,000 low income individuals from the neighborhoods of Park Slope, Sunset Park, Red Hook, Fort Greene, Prospect Heights, and Flatbush. CANIMP has conducted health education workshops in collaboration with PRY’s Adult Education/ESL courses.

South Asian Marrow Association of Recruiters (SAMAR)
http://www.samarinfo.org/
The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) was created in 1987 to provide marrow transplants to patients in need. Presently, it maintains a registry of 4.7 million HLA typed caring volunteers for potential marrow donation, but only 50,000 are of South Asian origin. Since a match is found 1 in 20,000 from the same racial group, our patients’ chances are grim. It is vital that South Asians make a personal commitment to become involved in saving the lives of our patients. The South Asian Marrow Association of Recruiters (SAMAR) addresses this issue through an organized effort to increase the number of South Asian volunteer Donors had to be made.

New York Taxi Workers Alliance
The NYTWA was formed in February 1998 as an independent membership organization that fights for rights, respect, and dignity of all of NYC taxi drivers. NYTWA addresses working conditions, work protection, and other concerns.