CR#4 The Other Side
Context Worksheet
Name of organization you work with: Marin Asian Advocacy Project
Stated mission of the organization:
MAAP seeks to empower communities to participate in the educational, economic, social and political opportunities offered by the American society. MAAP’s major goals are to cultivate community leadership, promote physical and mental health wellbeing, help and educate the communities to become self-sufficient in civic engagements, labor rights, environmental advocacy, advocate for the rights and access of immigrants in navigating the healthcare, social and civil processes and resources and to increase understanding of cultural appropriateness and pluralisms. Their Vietnamese bilingual staff outreach interact with the community in the traditional way of personal phone calls and home visits to provide ongoing support.
What are the programs/services provided?
MAAP offers translation and interpretation services, assistance with citizenship paperwork, cultural event organization, mental health workshops and field trips, healthy living and nutrition workshops, a Love and Caring Luncheon, a mindfulness program for youths, workplace safety and Healthy Nail Salon workshops, Marin Vietnamese American Oral History Archive, environmental justice engagement, drug and alcohol abuse prevention, job referral, and voting education.
What is the targeted issue(s)? What is the target population?
The Marin Asian Advocacy Project provides comprehensive services to the Asian and South Asian communities to ease the transition into American society. BRIDGE is part of Marin County’s Health and Human Services, a program that supports adults ages 18+ who struggle with severe mental health symptoms. A lot of the participants overlap between MAAP and BRIDGE connecting the two programs.
What are some identified qualities/qualifications for people to be part of the program/services?
For MAAP, anyone in the Vietnamese community seeking the services provided are welcomed whereas for BRIDGE, they must be referred to or recommended for the program by a doctor.
Larger context of Marin County (or the county of your community engagement)
What is the composition of the county’s population?
The composition of Marin county includes 72.3% White (185,603 people), 15.7% Latino (40,414 people), 2.5% Black (6,459 people), 5.6% Asian (14,464 people), .2% Pacific Islander (537 people), .5% other (1,251 people), and 3% of people who identify as two or more (7,662 people).
What is the percentage of your community organization’s target population in relation to the county’s population as a whole?
About 5.6%
What are some discrepancies/differences between your engagement community and the general Marin county community in terms of privilege and access to resources?
Although MAAP offers easy access resources for the Asian community, without the program I firmly believe that the community would have little to no access to resources. Even if resources were available much of the community is unaware of the resources that are being offered around them. I have also found that a lot for resources are only offered to those who are struggling the most in the community. The school systems in the area are not as developed either. Most of the schools are underfunded and struggle to provide the necessary resources their students need for a healthy learning environment. The housing situation in this community is also very different from that of the rest of Marin county. The buildings are underdeveloped and most of the infrastructure is not maintained like the wealthier areas of Marin.
Is there anything in your findings that is emotionally charged, or could potentially cause resentment and/or harm in certain populations?
There are most definitely emotionally charged circumstances that the Asian community live in that could lead to resentment. I think that those living in those conditions as elderly simply accept that these are the circumstances that they live in and will not harbor resentment because the conditions are better than what they came from when they immigrated to the United States. However, I do believe that their kids will become resentful because they are more aware and educated about how the rest of Marin lives.
After the Census 2020 Make Marin Count Event
One of the key issues that the panelists had pointed out that really caught my attention is that parts of the population, specifically minorities or those part of the subordinate group, are often not counted in the census. The panelists highlighted the groups that are often left out as well as some reasons why they are left out. Some of these reasons included reasons such as fear of the government, lack of proficiency in English, and lack of knowledge concerning the purpose of the census. The panelists did however, offer solutions to these issues such as creating awareness for the census and its importance. The panelists statements most definitely apply to my community partner in that the majority of them do not speak English and therefore cannot read making it difficult for them to complete the census. I did notice however, that one of the panelists had mentioned that people in the MAAP program went door to door to educate people about the census which I believe is very beneficial in this community. I’ve noticed that with this community a common issue for them when dealing with government forms is that the wording makes it difficult for them to understand or the way the system works in general confuses them. Despite having a hard time with these issues, I am glad to say that they use their resources. When they don’t understand something that was received in the mail, they will bring it into group and ask someone to explain it to them. I believe that the biggest issue in this community when it comes to being counted for the census is that they are illiterate so I was happy to see that the census is offered in different languages. Although these forms may still have wording that the seniors struggle to understand even in their own native language, it seems as if the community has ways of supporting them and the seniors are not at all hesitant to ask.
