It's Time for a Pan Asian American Center in Greater Chicago

Rhea Yap, Co-Interim Executive Director of Chinese Mutual Aid Association
Anita Puri, Board President of Indo-American Center
Neha Gill, Executive Director of Apna Ghar
Anchor organizations of the future Pan Asian American Center

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Asian Americans represent one of the fastest growing demographic groups according to the 2020 Census data. While there have been some gains in recent years, widespread recognition of the accomplishments, contributions and cultural understanding of the AAPI community in Illinois is lacking.

Chicago has around 20 distinct Asian American ethnic groups from more commonly known Asian Indian, Filipino, Korean, Chinese, Thai, and Cambodian to lesser thought of Mongolian, Nepalese, Rohingyan, SriLankan which altogether make up 8% Asian in Cook County but over 25% in municipalities such as Skokie, Niles, Schaumburg, and Naperville.

Additionally, investment in the AAPI community by philanthropy is still far behind, with only 20 cents of every $100 dollars being designated to AAPI communities by foundations according to a 2021 study by Asian Americans / Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy.

Today there are several nonprofit organizations rooted in specific ethnic heritages, so philanthropic dollars are spread out.

A Pan Asian American Center will provide a physical space for various non-profits to collaborate, create awareness for services across communities and serve as a hub for the Pan Asian American Community. A Pan Asian American Center can significantly enhance the well-being, representation, and cultural vitality of Asian American communities.  

To that end, Chinese Mutual Aid Association, Indo-American Center, and Apna Ghar, have come together as anchor organizations with the intent of developing a Pan Asian American Center with strong support from the Illinois Asian American Legislative Caucus.  The goal will be to find a physical space where the Pan Asian community can gather and share services and resources.  A physical space will make visible our unique cultural backgrounds and facilitate community development and capacity building in the region.

The Center aims to create a resource hub under one roof for the Pan Asian community. Community members will have access to resources for employment, healthcare, language, arts, culture, and immigration services, all within a welcoming space for cultural and social events.

We want to build a Center with community input. As such, we invite the community to join us for a Town Hall on September 12th from 6-7pm at Skokie Public Library. We’ll share our findings to the community and discuss the next steps in this exciting project

Join us to make your voices heard.

Town Hall Meeting
Future Pan Asian American Center 
September 12th from 6pm-7:00pm
Skokie Public Library, 5215 Oakton St, Skokie, IL