A Chicago-based organization is leading the charge on a multi-state study that spotlights the often invisible struggles and needs of low-income Asian Americans, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders by taking a novel approach toward collecting data.
Change InSight, a coalition led by the Chinatown-based nonprofit Chinese American Service League (CASL), has been surveying communities in more Asian languages, allowing for better data. The coalition is the first national web platform to collect community-level data from low-income Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities on public health and socioeconomic indicators.
Large, mainstream demographic and health surveys are almost always conducted in English and Spanish — excluding underserved Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) with limited English proficiency, who tend to be lower-income and need the most support. Because those communities are often not included in influential national surveys, they remain invisible to policymakers and funders and don’t get the help they need.
Better data is a way to raise visibility about the needs of under-resourced AAPIs, said Alex Montgomery, director for the Center for Social Impact at the Chinese American Service League. “We are drilling down into how to support them and hope to convince funders and governments to provide resources,” she said.
The push for more data on vulnerable Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, including in Chicago, has gained momentum in recent years after the sharp rise of anti-Asian hate attacks since the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 16, community members commemorated the third anniversary of the Atlanta spa mass shootings. Many of those victims were lower-income immigrants of Asian descent.
Paul Luu, CEO of the Chinese American Service League, said anti-Asian hate has exposed a lack of support for…
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