Education and Asset-building

Acculturation challenges and limited English proficiency are barriers API immigrants and refugees often face in accessing housing and social services and participating fully in established programs and activities.  IDHA recognizes the importance of education and asset-building for residents of the Chinatown/International District (CID), and the Asian Pacific Islander community to achieve equitable and full participation in society.

Wilderness Inner-city Leadership Development (WILD)

The WILD program provides leadership development opportunities for API high school students or greater Seattle and residents of the CID, creating a strong foundation for community-based advocates around environmental justice.

Participants develop leadership skills through outdoor activities, community-building projects, educational outreach, and identification and implementation of community-driven solutions to environmental justice issues.  WILD programs provide:

• Youth leadership development
• Community-building and organizing
• Academic, career, and social support for high school students
• Environmental justice education and stewardship opportunities

To learn more about projects that WILD program participants have been working on, visit our News Page.

For more information, contact Alma Dea Michelena at almadea@apialliance.org.

Financial Literacy

IDHA's financial literacy services address language and other barriers of immigrant and refugee communities to access and understand financial systems and institutions.  Staff work with clients on an individual basis as well as in workshop settings to provide:

• Financial literacy education and counseling
• Individual credit management counseling
• Homebuyer education and counseling
• Down-payment assistance programs
• Access to reputable lenders

For more information, contact Joyce Saldanha at jsaldanha@apialliance.org.

Outreach

Outreach staff work with the residents of Seattle public housing communities to provide access to public benefits and health and social services. Our multilingual staff assist residents of the Yesler Terrace, Rainier Vista, and High Point communities in Chinese, Vietnamese and Cambodian.  Residents of these communities are encouraged to participate in educational opportunities that include:

• Resident capacity- building activities
• Community service projects
• Citizenship tutoring for the homebound
• ESL classes

For more information, contact Tien Duong-Le at tiend@apialliance.org.