June 25, 2021 

Dear Governor Andrew Cuomo, State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, and State Senate Majority  Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins: 

We, the undersigned Asian American-led and -serving organizational leaders – representing the  collective that advocated for this funding package – are grateful for your support of the first-of-its  kind $13 Million New York State investment in the diverse Asian American community at this  challenging time, including $10 Million for Asian American-serving community-based organizations. 

We stand united as an Asian American community and write to share with you a collaborative budget proposal for the $10 Million of funding for Asian American-led and -serving community based organizations providing violence prevention and other community-based services to help  address the growing needs of our communities across NY State. In the face of growing anti-Asian  violence, our community’s recovery and healing must be rooted in the life-affirming community based organizations (CBOs) that are often the only safety-net for so many Asian American New  Yorkers. Our CBOs have built trust with our diverse communities; hire and employ thousands from  within the community; and have the knowledge and understanding of how our communities heal. Yet, Asian American CBOs continue to commit countless un-funded hours and organize thousands  of volunteers to help community members. 

A $10 Million commitment by NY State will be invaluable to our CBOs. The proposed budget below  reflects 2/3 of $15 Million, which was the original community-based organization allocation of the $19.5 Million budget package we collectively advocated for. Our proposal includes multiple lines of  funding to specific community organizations, AND also funding to create a Statewide Asian  American CBO Fund, which will be distributed through an expedited RFP process open to  organizations across all of NY State. The list of potential organizations for this CBO Fund are in progress – we are happy to take suggestions from members across New York State. CACF, as the  designated administrator of this fund, has years of experience with sub-awarding State contracts  and is prepared to support smaller organizations across our diverse Asian American communities. 

Again, our thanks for this clear commitment from NY State to Asian American community-based  organizations that stand poised to best support our communities now and into the future, as we  heal and recover not only from the COVID-19 pandemic, but also from the recent uptick in anti Asian violence. Our organizations and communities have been waiting and ready for this allocation  since the budget approval. We look forward to implementing this funding as soon as possible and  to ensuring Asian American New Yorkers receive the support they need to recover and heal. 

Sincerely, 

Alan van Capelle, Education Alliance  

Anita Gundanna and Vanessa Leung, Coalition for Asian American Children and Families Annetta Seecharan, Chhaya CDC 

David Garza, Henry Street  

Isabel Ching, Hamilton Madison House 

Jeehae Fischer, Korean American Family Services Center 

Jennifer Sun and Thomas Yu, Asian Americans for Equality

John Park, MinKwon Community Center 

Joyce Moy, Executive Director, AAARI CUNY 

Kaushal Challa, Charles B. Wang Community Health Center 

Kavita Mehra, Sakhi for South Asian Women 

Linda Lee, Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York, Inc 

Margaret Fung, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund 

Melissa Aase, University Settlement 

Pabitra Khati Benjamin, Adhikaar 

Robert Cordero, Grand Street Settlement 

Therese R. Rodriguez, APICHA Community Health Center 

Wayne Ho, Chinese-American Planning Council 

Yasmeen Hamza, Womankind