Transcribed below:
STORIES
Community Services – Mrs. Lee and Mrs. Park applied for citizenship for the first time in 2018, but their application was rejected due to lack of English proficiency. They tried again after seeing a NAKASEC VA ad in September 2019. They came to a workshop feeling discouraged and weighed down by the previous experience. NAKASEC VA staff and volunteers assisted with application completion and support with the interview. This time,they passed the interviews, completed the oath ceremonies and will vote for the first time in 2021.
Civic Engagement – NAKASEC VA’s multilingual canvassing team (Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean and English) focused on non-partisan voter registration and mobilization of almost75,000 Asian American voters in Virginia. By Election Day, over 129,000 Asian American voters had voted, representing a 367% increase from 2016 (a higher rate than for all voters at 303%).
Youth Leadership Development – With the new knowledge and skills, I hope to continue to stay involved and help my friends and family get more involved. I still feel like there’s so much to learn and do before I can consider myself “civically engaged,” but I’m excited for how the future turns out. I’m really thankful to NAKASEC (VA) and everyone that was a part of the internship. I’m so glad that you guys could be a part of my story. As I said, this is a part of my character development, and there’s still so much more to my story to be written.
WINS
Here are a few highlights that we’ve been able to achieve with your support:
- Expanded in-state tuition to undocumented students
- Implemented driver privilege cards for undocumented residents
- Provided 90+ undocumented community members with direct financial assistance to keep them afloat during the pandemic
- Appointed Soyoung, one of our staff, to the inaugural board of the Office of New Americans
- Struck down the 40-Quarter Rule, increasing access to healthcare for immigrant communities in Virginia
- Urged the Virginia Department of Health to include Asians & Pacific Islanders when reporting COVID-19 data
MEDIA COVERAGE
- Richmond Times-Dispatch
- Virginia Mercury
- NVR Radio
- Manna 24
- Washington Post
- Voice of America – Vietnam
- Fairfax County Times
- Korea Times
- WDCT AM 1310 Radio
- Korea Daily
- New York Times
BY THE NUMBERS
- 803 unique Asian American callers to office
- 169 health care referrals and applications
- 163 citizenship applications + fee waivers
- 142 supporters
- 93 undocumented Asian Americans with whom we provided direct financial support
- 29 Census workshops and events
- 13 Asian American youth leaders trained
- ELECTION 2020
- 70,8118 text messages for November elections
- 114,223 calls for November elections
We couldn’t have done any of this without you, our community! Now, we’re pivoting to what we can accomplish together in 2021. Wanna know how to get more involved with Asian American community organizing with us at NAKASEC VA in this upcoming year?
