Engaging Immigrant Communities – California Stories
Post
Cupertino – Citizenship Classes at Senior
Center
Victor Wong – an exemplary volunteer – teaches citizenship
classes at the City of Cupertino’s Senior Center. Since 2002,
1,078 of Wong’s students have successfully taken the
citizenship exam. According to city staff these classes help
seniors feel less isolated, more independent and integrated in
their community, which in turn reduces the burden on city
services.
Santa Clara County: Multimedia Tools and Community
Dialogues Support Immigrant Integration
The Silicon Valley Asian American Voices project launched in
2010 by Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI) uses
multimedia tools to tell the stories of Asian American
immigrants and to educate and engage people on related
community issues. The Voices project has worked in partnership
with local officials and community partners to host community
dialogues that have helped to deepen understanding of the
immigrant experience, build trust between diverse communities,
and empower people with the resources to promote immigrant
integration.
San Mateo County: Community Dialogues Help Immigrants
And Longer-Term Residents Bridge The Cultural
Gap
Through its new Immigrant Engagement Project, the Peninsula
Conflict Resolution Center (PCRC) is creating opportunities for
dialogue that allow recent immigrants and long-term residents
of San Mateo County to get to know each other better. These
dialogues will also help identify shared interests and
community concerns about public services including education,
community development, health and safety. After a series of
intra- and inter- community dialogue sessions PCRC plans to
convene a countywide summit to bring together dialogue
participants and local officials to discuss the outcomes.
San Mateo County: C.A.R.O.N. – Community Alliance to
Revitalize Our Neighborhood: Violence Prevention by Engaging
Youth and Immigrant Families
C.A.R.O.N. (Community Alliance to Revitalize Our Neighborhood),
an initiative of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, works
to create strong and healthy immigrant families that are
integrated into their community. C.A.R.O.N. works in
partnership with schools, the faith community, youth groups,
and parents. Family engagement and outreach programs offered
through C.A.R.O.N. encourage civic participation by educating
community members about their rights and responsibilities and
help prevent youth violence by supporting ongoing positive
connections between law enforcement and community members.
Lodi: Reaching out to the Pakistani-American
Community
The City of Lodi is home to a diverse population of 65,000
people, including many Latino and Pakistani immigrants and
their families. Reaching out to these communities is an ongoing
practice of the city.
Fremont: Fremont’s Community Ambassadors Program Reaches Out to
Immigrant Seniors
Starting in 2000, the City of Fremont partnered with local
ethnic community organizations to engage their diverse
residents in focus groups. One goal that surfaced from these
conversations was to improve the capacity of the community to
serve older adults and to make services accessible to older
adults. The City of Fremont’s Community Ambassador Program was
developed by the city and ethnic community leaders to address
this goal.
Redwood
City and Oakley – California Communities Launch Initiatives to
Strengthen Relationships between Immigrants and Longer-Term
Residents
Two California cities are implementing welcoming initiatives to
improve understanding and strengthen relationships between
immigrant community members and longer term residents. Redwood
City and the City of Oakley have undertaken multi-sector
planning efforts with a substantial partnership role for local
officials. The Four Freedoms Fund, Silicon Valley Community
Foundation and Y&H Soda Foundation funded the planning
phase and the latter two have recently approved grants for the
implementation in Redwood City and the City of Oakley.
