Office Depot Foundation

Once again, as part of its National Backpack program, Office Depot has donated a number of new sackpacks to help our kids get off to a good start in school.

We'll be giving these new sackpacks in 5 cool designs to families at our International Family Centers in Seattle, and as part of our mid-Autumn Moon Festival celebration on September 10 in Kent. Come join the fun and pick up a bag for your child too!

Carlson Leadership & Public Service Center

Kudos to the CISC after school program and incredible staff!

"The CISC volunteer site is a great learning experience for me because it allowed me to apply the skills I learned

internally within the classroom walls to the external world. Also, I had a really fun time as a tutor since I got to

engage with a lot of children.

From the latest report out of the Carlson Leadership & Public Service Center

Community Health Fair 2011

Our International Family Center's annual Community Health Fair is coming up - 10am-2pm on Saturday, September 17 at CISC. Take advantage of health screenings and professional advice from the 20 organizations that will be attending. Chinese and Vietnamese interpreters will be available, and a light lunch will be served at noon. Thanks to Northwest Kidney Center for sponsoring the event, and Washington State Hepatitis B Coalition for providing lunch.

For more information, please contact Mabel Kwong at mabelk@cisc-seattle.org or 206-624-5633 x 4151.

Video Project: Adobe Youth Voices

Staff member Karia recently obtained a technology grant from Adobe to teach students to design and produce videos. This grant enabled immigrant youths to express and voice their opinions of critical topics through media production. While the initial stages and coming up with video themes were difficult, Karia was soon amazed by the creativity and dedication the students showed in their work. As a result, three of the videos were shared at the Adobe event on May 17th. Here are links to the three videos:

• Don't Waste Food: http://tv.adobe.com/watch/adobe-youth-voices/dont-waste-food/
• Shattered Dreams:  http://tv.adobe.com/watch/adobe-youth-voices/shattered-dreams/
• Encouragement: http://tv.adobe.com/watch/adobe-youth-voices/encouragement/
  
  

39th Annual Friendship Dinner and Auction

Over 350 guests and supporters attended CISC's 39th Annual Friendship Dinner and Auction held at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue on June 4. Guests enjoyed a plated dinner while participating in both live and silent auctions throughout the night. Through generous donations and gifts, we raised nearly $140,000 during the event for CISC programs! Thanks to everyone who came out and supported CISC, making this a very successful night for us.

Photographs courtesy of Dave Greer, Kevin Simans, and Hut Kwan. 

Tech Health Day in September - volunteer commitments needed!

We need your help to make our 1st Chinatown/International Tech Health Day a success! We need to have a rough headcount of volunteers before we complete our proposal and apply for funding. Time commitment is below:

1st Preparation Meeting:    September 03, 2011 from 10:00am to 12:00pm
2nd Preparation Meeting:   September 10, 2011 from 10:00am to 12:00pm
1st Tech Health Day:          September 17, 2011 from 9:00am to 3:00pm.

While a lot of people are enjoying the benefits of improving information technology, there are still people who are not due to lack of exposure, limited access, language barriers, and other reasons. CISC is working on a proposal to host a tech health day for Chinese immigrants. The goals of the 1st Chinatown/ International Tech Health Day are to promote technological awareness and encourage safe adoption of technology among the Chinese community.

There will be demonstrations of various uses of technology such as interactive video consoles, cell phones and smart phones, digital entertainment, and iPads. There will be educational/informational booths and workshops for families as well as individual users. Topics include Cyber Safety for Children, Internet Safety, Online Job Search & Application, Online Shopping Tips, Resources on Government Websites, and Online Translation Tools.

To sign up, or for questions and more information, please contact Karia Wong at (206) 624-5633 x 4119 or at kariaw@cisc-seattle.org.

Bridges to Success

Bellevue Councilmember John Chelminiak has been selected by as the 2011 recipient of the Bridges to Success Award.  The award honors one individual’s commendable work that helps create bridges to success for immigrants and immigrant communities.   

 This year’s award specifically highlights the Councilmember’s dedication and passion towards human services and serving local communities.  Mr. Chelmniniak will be presented with the award at CISC’s 39^th Annual Friendship Dinner and Auction on June 4, 2011 at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue.  

Register online before May 20 for discount pricing! 

Día de los Niños/Día de los Libros

Crossroads Bellevue celebrated Día de los Niños/Día de los Libros on Saturday and CISC was there.

Hundreds of kids and their parents were treated to free entertainment on the Main Stage, lots of prizes and activities focusing on literacy, and information on community resources.
















CISC's Cultural Navigator Program used the opportunity to outreach to our Latino neighbors and inform them about services available through CISC.

We also held a raffle for Dora the Explorer books courtesy of our friends at Community Health Plan of Washington.  Congrats to the lucky winners!

Center for Ethical Leadership

CISC's Executive Director Alaric Bien was honored at this year's Legacy Event for the Center for Ethical Leadership. Chosen for his efforts in significantly advancing social, environmental, and economic justice, he shared the evening with fellow awardees Paola Maranan and Judy Pigott.

Listen to why he is so passionate about CISC.
Alaric Bien--2011 Legacy Award winner from Center for Ethical Leadership on Vimeo.

Seattle University Volunteer Outreach

On March 29^th, CISC’s Jennifer Jan, along with representatives from other local organizations, was invited to an Asian Studies class at Seattle University to speak to Service-Learning students about volunteer opportunities.  Although her pitch was short, 5 eager students signed up to become tutors in the After-School Program – not bad for a class of 12!  Jennifer says that this will hopefully be the beginning of a long-term relationship with Seattle University.  Currently, CISC has already established a strong relationship with the University of Washington – many of our volunteers have been or are current UW students. 

The new quarter has just started, and the number of volunteers for this quarter has increased tremendously –there are now 18 volunteer tutors!  If you would like to volunteer to become a tutor, please call Jennifer Jan at (206)624-5633 x4155 or email her at jenniferj@cisc-seattle.org. 

Family Night: Not Just Dinner and an Awards Show

Every quarter, the After-School Program hosts a Family Night for kids that brings together their families and tutors.  The most recent Family Night was hosted on April 1st (after the end of winter quarter) to recognize outstanding students and to host a potluck dinner.  After the dinner, parents were treated to a proactive parenting class hosted by Michael Chang that taught them how to be more involved with their children’s teachers and education.  They were given lessons in how to ask questions during parent-teacher conferences and how to be more involved with their children’s education through accessing emails and the Source.  Parents were also given information on upcoming computer classes focusing on email set-up and login instructions for the Source.

For more information on how to become more involved with your child’s education, you can reach Jennifer Jan (Chinese or English) at (206)624-5633 x4155.

Unemployment Benefits: Who, Where, What, and Why

Recently, the International Family Center hosted an Unemployment Benefits workshop for those interested in seeking government assistance during these tough economic times.  The workshop was led by a WorkSource staff member from the Washington State Employment Security Department who provided listeners with information about eligibility, the different ways to apply, and the necessary documents needed when applying. 

Interested in learning more?  There is an upcoming workshop on Wednesday, 4/27 that will discuss how to fill out the Unemployment Benefits application and how to file a weekly claim over the phone or internet. 

Date & Time: Wednesday, 4/27 from 1:30pm-3:00pm

Location: CISC International Family Center – Seattle

611 S Lane St, Seattle WA 98104

For more information, please contact Mabel Kwong (Chinese or English) at (206) 624-5633 x 4151.

Community Travel Ambassador training

In our Sunshine Garden Senior Day Care program, our staff works hard to help Chinese seniors lead active, healthy, and mobile lives. In that spirit, Sunshine Garden staff member Andes Kong has completed a Community Travel Ambassador Training course, sponsored by Sound Transit, King County Metro, and Hopelink. Community Travel Ambassadors are trained to help seniors, low-income individuals, people with disabilities and those with Limited English Proficiency access appropriate forms of available transportation. Now the approximately 120 seniors who come to Sunshine Garden will have better assistance than ever when they need to see friends, go to the doctor, or just do a little shopping.

National Victim Assistance Academy

CISC Crime Victims Service Project Director Alan Lai was in Albuquerque, NM last week to attend the March 2011 National Victim Assistance Academy (NVAA). Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice, the NVAA provides victim service professionals with skills and knowledge to better serve victims. The trainings were conducted by experts in the criminal justice field and focused on areas such as cultural competence, ethics, resilience, victims' rights, and leadership.

Congratulations to Alan for being accepted into this competitive program. He is pictured here with Carroll Ellis, the new Director of the NVAA.

CISC Commended in Identity Theft Case

Today we received a letter commending CISC Crime Victims Service Project Director Alan Lai for his exemplary work in helping to crack a multi-state credit card and bank account takeover scheme based in Georgia, which targeted Asian immigrants up and down the West Coast.

Not only did Alan develop trusting relationships with the victims, he helped Department of Justice attorneys bridge the language and cultural barriers, and traveled with the victims to Georgia when they said they needed his support in order to testify.

With CISC's assistance, these Vietnamese, Korean, Laotian and Chinese victims, many of whom are small business owners, saw justice done with eight guilty pleas and one very short trial.

The US Attorney says that without CISC and the services of Alan Lai, "I am certain that we could not have been as successful as we were with the victims and the case."

Students Meeting Students - in Mandarin

The CISC Step Ahead Preschool program had some special visitors last week - a Chinese-speaking middle school class from Lakeside School. It wasn't the students' first visit to CISC; they've also visited the Play and Learn program as part of their regular service learning trips. The Lakeside class is a mix of students who speak Mandarin at home and students who are learning it as a foreign language, and they had the chance to practice their Mandarin skills, play a few games, and visit the library with the Step Ahead kids. Maybe by the time our Step Ahead students reach middle school, they'll be making their own preschool visits?

El Centro de Información y Servicio Chino

Cultural Navigator program highlighted in La Raza del Noroeste!


"CISC offers a free Cultural Navigator program that helps Latino families find resources in the community." This article talks about Paula Marin Hernandez and her two year long search for help navigating American systems.

An Unexpected Gift

At CISC, our clients show their appreciation in many ways. One of our clients, Mr. He, went a little further (and farther) than most: he had a flag specially made in Shanghai! Mr. He is the caregiver for his wife, and the two of them have been coming to our Family Caregiver program for assistance with housing and health insurance. The words on the flag translate roughly as: "Through adversity, I have experienced true compassion. When I face difficulty, CISC is always in my heart."

2011 Walkathon

 

Thanks to everyone who took part in our 2nd Annual Lunar New Year Walkathon! Our staff had a lot of support from our walkers, donors, performers, volunteers and sponsors at this year's event. Walkers got to try their hand at Chinese calligraphy, enjoy free massage, watch some great entertainment, and be part of their own lion dance. Watch the video above to see photographs from the event.

Did you attend this year's event? We'd love to hear your feedback for next year. Please contact Dan at danielj@cisc-seattle.org. 

CISC ED To Receive Center for Ethical Leadership Award

From the International Examiner:

Center for Ethical Leadership’s Recipients of the 2011 Bill Grace Leadership Legacy Award
This award identifies and celebrates Puget Sound individuals or groups whose vision, leadership and commitment work to advance the common good in local communities. The Center is particularly interested in celebrating those who recognize the importance of collective leadership, and/or who are often out of the traditional spotlight. This year’s recipients are: Alaric Bien, Executive Director, Chinese Information and Service Center; Paola Maranan, Executive Director, Children’s Alliance; and Judy Pigott, Co-Founder, Personal Safety Nets. The awards will be presented at the 6th Annual Legacy Event, Thursday, March 10, 6:30 – 9 p.m. in the Rainier Room at Seattle Center. Tickets are $55 and include dinner. Tickets must be purchased in advance online at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/141887.

Congratulations to all the recipients!