Bay Area Grantees Focused on Overlooked AAPI Youth Needs
Palo Alto, CA – The Jeremy Lin Foundation is pleased to announce it has awarded over $200,000 in grants to five community-based organizations working to improve opportunities for underserved youth in the Bay Area. The recipients are Community Youth Center (CYC), East Bay Asian Youth Center (EBAYC), Asian American Community Involvement (AACI), Harbor House, and Stop AAPI Hate. Together, these organizations work with over 11,000 underserved youth, 30-75% which are Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI).
In the past few years Jeremy has been especially moved by the needs of the AAPI community, particularly those who are underserved yet often overlooked. The “model minority” myth distorts the reality that nearly one in four AAPIs in California are working but struggling with poverty. On top of that, COVID has caused a rise in anti-Asian racism. From March through July of 2020, Stop AAPI Hate received approximately 350 reports of anti-Asian discrimination involving youth nationally.
In 2020, Jeremy gave $1.5M for COVID-19 relief and racial injustice, and fundraised for more through his campaign “Be the Light.” Jeremy wrote about his heart for this campaign and his reaction to the anti-Asian racism in his piece, The Darkness Has Not Overcome It.
The Jeremy Lin Foundation took a data-driven and community needs approach to identifying organizations serving AAPI youth in low income areas, with strong leadership and high impact results, and low access to philanthropic capital.
“As I get older, I’m more and more interested in how to develop strategies for philanthropy with both depth and impact,” said Lin. “The Asian American experience is close to my heart and I want to see more youth feel empowered in their identities. The Bay Area has always been home base to me and the Jeremy Lin Foundation is thrilled to partner with these organizations to further our mission of empowering underprivileged youth.”
Community Youth Center of San Francisco has served the San Francisco community for over 50 years. Their mission is to encourage a diverse population of high-need young people to explore their full potential through academic, career, family, and community life. Their services include academic and college counseling, job placement and employment training, substance abuse and violence prevention education, crisis intervention and mediation, leadership development, and technology and computer training.
EBAYC’s guiding vision is to create spaces that affirm the diverse cultural identities of its youth. They build strategic partnerships with schools, city and county governments, and community organizations, and establish trusting relationships with families to provide seamless services to support youth. Their diverse menu of services include youth violence prevention, expanded learning, and civic and community engagement.
AACI was founded in 1973 and is one of the largest community-based organizations advocating for and serving the marginalized and vulnerable ethnic communities in Santa Clara County. Their mission is to strengthen the hope and resilience of our community members by improving their health, mental health and well-being.
Harbor House is a faith-based community development organization in Oakland, California that serves refugees, immigrants, and low-income families through food access, language programs, education, leadership development, and spiritual formation.
Stop AAPI Hate was founded in response to the alarming xenophobia and bigotry as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The center tracks and responds to incidents of hate, violence, harassment, discrimination, shunning, and child bullying against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in California and where possible throughout the United States.
For more information on specific grantees, please contact:
Ben Mok, Community Youth Center, benm@cycsf.org
Nhi Chau, EBAYC, nhi@ebayc.org
Sarita Kohli, AACI, Sarita.Kohli@aaci.org
Kacie Stratton, Harbor House, kacies@hhministries.org
Russell Jeung, Stop AAPI Hate, rjeung@sfsu.edu
To submit a media request, contact Meredith Geisler at mgeisler@tandemse.com or (703) 740-5015.
