Asian community-building vision experience and challenges Dr M

Asian community-building vision, experience, and challenges Dr. M. P. Chow Ned Li Chih-Hsiang Li Stan Tsai

What is CCACC? A 501(c)(3) non-profit membership organization established in 1982 to serve Chinese community at large; The founders were all leaders from various area Chinese schools to form a broader base coalition; Currently there approximately around 1, 500 registered units (family or single) of members; Headquarter is at 9366 Gaither Road in Gaithersburg, but additional activities are all over Montgomery County.

What is CCACC? Board of Directors with subcommittees serve as the policy maker and oversight body; Office of Executive Director including accounting, HR, and IT services; Adult Day Healthcare Center (ADHC) CCACC Services Operations Health & Human Service Division: Evergreen Club, PAVHC, and Community services; Education Division: CLAPS (Chinese Language School), ESOL classes; Culture and Recreation Division: a total of thirty-one (31) clubs in sport, arts, dance, and culture.

VISIONS A vibrant organization serving, strengthening, and celebrating Chinese American community 願景一個服務社區 , 提昇華裔形象的草根社團。宗旨 • 服務僑社，團結華人華裔，促進社團合作，維護華人權益。 • 服務社區，推展中華文化，促進中西交流，提昇華人形象。

Mission Enhance the quality of life and well-being of Chinese Americans and the community-at-large, Promote the awareness of Chinese culture and appreciation of cultural diversity, Facilitate assimilation of Chinese immigrants into American society, and Advance coalitions in community development and building.

The First 10 Years Established regular activities on Saturday evening at Walter Johnson High School; Started coordinating combined field days for all Chinese Schools; Sponsored the first summer camp at Salisbury State University; Started student speech and calligraphy competitions for area Chinese Schools; Started first senior activities; Establish social dance club; Establish first media center for CCACC; Joined Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) for donations.

The Second 10 Years Expanded senior activities with other organizations; Started Chinese New Year Celebration activities at Montgomery Mall; CCACC was approved by United Way; Moved the annual Chinese New Year Celebration to Lakeforest Mall; Started the first senior center in Rockville then expanded to Germantown; First successful fundraising to purchase Comprint Circle office building; Commenced health clinic services and health fair.

The Third 10 Years Established Chinese language school as CLAPS specifically for adopted Chinese kids; Established Pan Asia Volunteer Health Clinic (PAVHC); Received first grant from Dept. of Labor to provide employment assistance; Established executive branch to take over all daily operations of CCACC and the Board stayed away from operations; Further expanded senior program to additional centers;

The Third 10 Years (Cont’d) The Board passed resolution to establish Adult Day Healthcare Center and the operation started in 2008; CCACC and its management received numerous community awards for its services; PAVHC moved to Gaithersburg and started its independent operation; Besides ADHC, CCACC is organized into three divisions: Health & Human Services, Education, and Culture & Recreation; CCACC received a major donation from anonymous person; CCACC headquarters moved to Gaithersburg.

EXPERIENCES - Images CCACC is one of the largest grass-root non-profit Asian organizations in metro-DC area; CCACC emphasizes the organization is non-political and non-religious; CCACC is actively serving our members as well as community at-large through various clubs and sponsored activities; CCACC works well with all local Chinese organizations.

EXPERIENCES - Organization Started with working board of directors and each director with specific operational responsibilities; 2000 – the only fundraising activity for the townhouse office building; 2004 – the formation of executive branch and the board is no longer involved in the daily operations of the center; 2008 – the formation of Adult Day Healthcare Center and created sustainable operation for CCACC; 2011 – moved to the current headquarters location and consolidated the three divisions of operations

EXPERIENCES - Facilities Started out renting Montgomery County School System facilities exclusively Several unsuccessful attempts in trying to buy land, buildings, and/or both Never really seriously considered how to sustain a dreamed CCACC facility Scaled back to raise fund to buy Comprint office in 2000 2011 moved to 9366 Gaither Road to primarily accommodate ADHC operations Currently the majority of the spaces were not utilized after 3: 00 pm on weekdays

CHALLENGES - Images Service image were overshadowed by the ADHC operations; How should we allocate our resources to all service areas? How do we reach out to work with other Chinese organizations? How can we best leverage our assets to further advance our causes?

CHALLENGE - Facilities Started with renting Montgomery County School facilities exclusively; Several unsuccessful attempts in buying land, building, and/or both; Bought the Gaithersburg townhouse office in 2000; Never really seriously considered how to sustain a dreamed CCACC “owned” facility; 2011 move to 9366 Gaither Road is really ADHC centric; How to balance our ADHC requirements vs. other center requirements; Feasibility of acquiring additional spaces.

CHALLENGES - Operations The immediate impact of “Affordable Care Act”; Human resources & employee benefits; Accounting policy and SOP; Purchase requisition policy; Inventory of physical assets and IT equipment; Transition into paperless operations; Balance between paid staff and volunteers; Volunteers recruiting, training, and management; New services such as after school care, etc.

CHALLENGES – Moving forward Need a compelling story for fund raising; How to attract donations in general; Volunteers Management; Balance between paid staff and volunteers; Aging top tier volunteers – Board directors, division directors, and most volunteers; The next level of senior services: in-home care, assistance living, and nursing home, etc.

Questions & Answers

Asian Community Building Vision and missions First ten years Second tem years Third ten years Experience Image Organization Facility Operations Challenges Image Organization Facility Moving forward