Asian Pacific Islanders are by percentage the fastest growing group in New York City, doubling every decade since 1970, and making up nearly 12% of the population. New York City has the largest Asian Pacific American populaton of any U.S. city. In fact, there are more Asian Pacific Americans in New York City than there are residents in San Francisco. Of the one million Asian Pacific Americans in New York City:
1 out 3 Asian Pacific Americans are linguistically isolated, meaning that no one over the age of 14 in a household speaks English well.
1 out of 4 Asian Pacific Americans lives in poverty.
1 out of 5 Asian Pacific Americans does not have health insurance.
2006 US census data of Korean population in New York City has shown that of the 96,000 Korean Americans currently residing in New York City:
54% have limited English proficiency (Speaks English “Not Well” or “Not at All”).
14% of total population lives in poverty
34% of elderly live in poverty
The Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York, Inc. (KCS) was founded in 1973 as the first and the largest community-based organization to address the specific needs of the Korean community in the New York region. The mission of KCS is to support and assist members of the Korean community, but not limited to them, to be healthy and thriving individuals in the United States.
KCS offers a wide range of services in the 3 main areas; Community, Aging and Public Health to serve this population. Currently KCS serves about 1,100 individuals daily in 6 different locations throughout the metro New York City area. KCS Public Health and Research Center has been providing health related services to the Korean community through its 7 different divisions; Tobacco Control, Diabetes, Hepatitis-B, Women’s Health, Immunization, Social Services and Advocacy.
In addition to providing direct service to the community, KCS Public Health and Research Center also regularly conducts survey and data collection. These efforts are made in an attempt to better understand the community we service. Community need assessments are made based on these data collection.
For instance, KCS Public Health and Research Center immunized approximately 1500 individuals with influenza vaccines last year. This was possible because of the concerted effort amongst the partners. New York Department of Health provided free vaccines and other logistics; Visiting Nurse Service of New York provided nurses; 13 different local businesses, religious congregations and community based organizations provided location and volunteers; 15 different local media outlets publicized before and after the events.
Prepared by:
Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York
www.kcsny.org
149 W 24th St
New York, NY 10011-1917
(646) 638-0597
Comments