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Little
Tokyo Service Center News - April 2011 |
| An Office With a Great View by Bill Watanabe |
Looking Forward
As everyone knows by now, the city of Sendai in northern Japan was hardest hit by the unimaginable 9.0 earthquake and then 30-foot tsunami that followed. I have a cousin (his name is Nobumitsu) who lives with his family in Sendai and I have visited him several times over the years. On my last trip to Sendai some years ago, Nobumitsu escorted me and my daughter on a boat ride around the beautiful Matsushima islands, many of which may now exist only in photographs. Through the connectivity of Facebook, I was able to finally receive a message from Nobumitsu, who told me that that he and his family are OK but are lacking electricity, adequate food, and have great anxieties due to the constant aftershocks. He ended his message to me by saying "maemukini gambarimasu" which means he will "look forward to the future and endure whatever comes".
At the same time, I think about the current trials and tribulations we are facing here in America - the State of California is facing a huge deficit and making cuts in state programs that provide the services that make our society a great and humane one; they plan to eliminate the Community Redevelopment Agencies which, for the most part, have done good work in revitalizing communities. I thought about the Federal budget, and how conservative forces want to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from programs for the poor, the elderly, the vulnerable, and the needy based on the constant mantra the government "is broke" and the deficit "too large" and yet these same politicians would keep billions of dollars for military projects that even the military doesn't want, and would protect billions in tax savings and government subsidies for the rich and powerful. When I think about our stale-mated government, I sometimes get angry or discouraged or even depressed.
And then, I think about my cousin Nobumitsu. His hometown is wrecked by both earthquake and tsunami. He worries about the lack of electricity and heat and food and water, and is in a state of constant anxiety as he is reminded of the horror of the 9.0 earthquake whenever another of the hundreds of aftershocks takes place again. And yet, through it all, he says he will "look forward and endure whatever comes".
I guess that is a message for me too - no matter how hard things get, we have to "look forward and endure whatever comes" and to keep moving forward and fighting for those things we believe in. |
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| How Your Support Makes a Difference |
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LTSC Family Literacy promotes confidence and advocacy
| When Fatima enrolled her daughter in Angelina Preschool in 2005, she didn’t speak English and could not communicate with her daughter’s teacher. She enrolled in LTSC’s Family Literacy program, funded by First 5 LA and the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. As part of a 4-component program, she began taking classes every day—ESL classes taught by teachers from Evans Community Adult School, computer classes through DISKovery Angelina and parenting classes facilitated by Family Literacy staff at the Angelina Apartments in Echo Park. |
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Through this highly intensive program, her skills and confidence in speaking and writing in English improved, and she learned about being an advocate for her children, now 5 and 8 years old. At a First 5 LA Commission Meeting in February, Fatima testified in front of the commissioners in English about the impact LTSC’s Family Literacy program has made in her life and on her children’s future. Shortly after, the Commissioners voted to approve up to $13 million for future Family Literacy Education funding. |
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| LTSC taking ACTION |
LTSC received a grant from National CAPACD’s AAPI Communities Taking Initiative in Our Neighborhoods Technical Assistance program (ACTION TA). This program is a national technical assistance and training initiative that builds organizational and program capacity using a model based on cultural-competency and peer-to-peer support. To do this, ACTION TA engages established, experienced member organizations to assist emerging Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community based organizations (CBOs) to engage in community development activities.
LTSC was chosen as a Technical Assistance Resource Organizations and will be working with Asian Enterprise Development Association in Minnesota, Hmong American Partnership also in Minnesota and Little Saigon Foundation of San Diego. LTSC is providing technical assistance around transportation issues that are impacting the communities these agencies serve. Because LTSC has organized the Little Tokyo community around several transportation issues including the Metro Gold Line, the Regional Connector and now the California High Speed Rail, LTSC is uniquely qualified to assist emerging agencies get their communities’ voices heard. In addition, LTSC will be providing capacity-building assistance in the areas of building organizational capacity in these new and emerging groups and how to best expand agency missions from solely service provision to include community development. |
 ACTION TA recipients take a walking tour of Little Tokyo. Here they visit the Union Center for the Arts, a formerly vacant historic church that LTSC converted into a multi-media arts complex.
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LTSC would like to thank National CAPACD for their support. |
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| Did You Know? |
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This year, Easter falls on Sunday, April 24. But why does Easter fall on a different day every year? The date of Easter is determined by an ecclesiastical lunar calendar. Easter falls on the Sunday following the Paschal Full Moon or the ecclesiastical full moon of the northern hemisphere spring. The Easter date may take place as early as March 22 but no later than April 25. |
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| Training Workshop for Family Caregivers |
| Saturday, April 16, from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm ~ "Issues in Caregiving" at Nishi Hongwanji Buddhist Temple, 815 E. First Street, Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. Topics include Medicare Reform; Memory Loss, Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease; Advanced Health Care Directive; and Caregiving Skills. Workshop is free and will be conducted in English, Japanese and Korean. To RSVP for the workshop, please click here or call 213-473-3035 by April 12. |
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| Save the Date: LTSC's Sake and Food Tasting Event - July 28, 2011 |
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| Citi Foundation Continues its Support of Affordable Housing Collaborative |
The Citi Foundation continues to support LTSC’s efforts to build affordable housing in the Los Angeles area. Citi Foundation’s current grant to LTSC will allow us to continue developing Menlo Family Housing. LTSC is partnering with Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance and the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health to build 60 units of multifamily affordable rental housing. The project will offer 4,000 square feet of social service space. The project will serve 136 low-income people living in Koreatown Los Angeles.
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LTSC’s Affordable Housing Collaborative works with other community-based organizations to (1) help such organizations build multifamily affordable housing projects that serve their communities and (2) increase the capacity of the organizations to engage in future housing development. This partnership is effective in creating housing that serves the specific needs of the community.
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LTSC would like to thank Citi Foundation for its support of our Affordable Housing Collaborative and helping us build housing in Los Angeles that serves the community.
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| March Donors – Thank You for Your Support! |
Friends of Barbara Boxer
Ngan Cheng
Richard H. Churchill
Beverly Ekimoto
Arthur Hasegawa
Douglas Ikemi
Takayoshi Imai
Joanne Kato
Mark Kawauchi
Lorene Miller
Marivic Miyashita
Jeff & Christine Murakami
Harry Nakada
Grant Nakaoka
David & Mary Noguchi
Dean Okamura
Tak & Roberta Shiroma
Frank & Mable Takenaka
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Elaine Taketa
John Chong Bin Yim
In-Kind Donations
Angel Harvest
In Memory of (in bold)
Sam Isomoto
The Family of Sam Isomoto
Mrs. Frances T. Yoshimoto
Dennis & Tomoye Tokumaru
Gregory & Virgina Young
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| Donate Your Old Car |
| Unwanted cars that are donated to LTSC bring critical funding to LTSC's services. We will pick up cars in almost any condition in LA and Orange Counties. Proceeds are tax deductible for the donor and can be significant even if the car is old or not running! The call takes less than 5 minutes and contributes to helping our many clients. Call (213) 473-1613 to donate. |
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| Ways to Help LTSC |
In making a donation to LTSC, you can:
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• Make a donation in memory of a loved one
• Make a donation in honor of someone’s birthday or graduation
• Make a stock donation
• Host a fundraiser to benefit LTSC |
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Donate Online, over the phone or via traditional mail.
Call (213) 473-1613 |
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