The non-profit West Michigan Asian American Association advocates for the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, focusing on healthcare, education, and economic development.
New executive director Dr. Yilin Wendland-Liu sees the association continuing to address health disparities, language barriers and lack of health insurance but says safety has become a top priority.
“Safety and belonging are two very key issues in our community. I hope our organization can help more children and families in our community feel safe and provide services to help them find that sense of safety and belonging.”
Wendland-Liu says youth mentorship and scholarship programs are focal points as well as vocational English-as-a-second-language courses to help new Americans integrate into West Michigan.
“We know there are a lot of entrepreneurs in our immigrant and refugee community and so many small businesses owned by people of color, folks of minority. We as an organization are leaning into what the community is already doing but also want to be a connector to help them grow their businesses to the next level.”
According to census data, people of Asian descent account for about 3.4% of Kent County’s population, just under 3% in Ottawa and Kalamazoo counties.
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