Community Spotlight: Asian Americans Advancing Justice Event

Hi everyone! My name is Amy Chau, and I’m APASA’s External Community Chair for the 2015-2016 school year. This year, we're introducing a new initiative to encourage student involvement in community organizations by spotlighting a new community organization each month.

As part of the spotlight, we invite representatives from the community organization to come to one of our weekly APASA Assembly meetings and provide representatives from our 21 member organizations with an overview of their mission and share what their organization does for the community. In addition, we provide members of APASA Member Organizations with an opportunity to learn more about these community organizations by sending a delegation of volunteers to help out at an upcoming community organization event.

Our first organization spotlight of the year for the month of September is Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles.

Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles (Advancing Justice - LA) is the nation’s largest legal and civil rights organization for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (NHPI). Founded in 1983 as the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, Advancing Justice - LA serves more than 15,000 individuals and organizations every year. Through direct services, impact litigation, policy advocacy, leadership development, and capacity building, Advancing Justice - LA focuses on the most vulnerable members of Asian American and NHPI communities while also building a strong voice for civil rights and social justice.

Advancing Justice - LA put together a great video that provides a thorough overview of what the organization strives for, which you can find here!

The Event: Monthly Citizenship Clinic

This month, Advancing Justice - LA is looking for volunteers for their monthly Citizenship Clinic.

Citizenship Clinic volunteers help individuals complete the Application for Naturalization (Form N-400), assess eligibility for various waivers, and provide in-language resources on the naturalization process. Advancing Justice will provide training in advance, and supervision. General volunteers will assist clients with preparation of the applications, while attorney volunteers will assist with legal review as the applications are completed.

When: Tuesday, September 29, 4:30-8:30pm (departure from USC 4pm)

Where: Monterey Park Public Library, 318 S. Ramona Ave., Monterey Park, CA 91754

Language Needs: Asian languages (primarily Mandarin and Cantonese) and Spanish.

Community Points: Orgs will be awarded 12 points/volunteer for this event + 4.5 points/volunteer for training. (*Must attend clinic to earn points from training)

Required Training: Please note that you must be trained prior to volunteering at an upcoming citizenship workshop. Please contact Pro Bono Director Christina Yang, Esq. (probono@advancingjustice-la.org) to discuss alternate arrangements if you missed the USC training session.

Volunteer Sign-Up Procedures: Please also remember to RSVP with Advancing Justice at http://bit.ly/1ET0lMk. To join the APASA delegation and earn points for your organization, fill out the Google form (http://bit.ly/1JT3VW4).

Feel free to check the Facebook event page (http://on.fb.me/1ENzuBG) or email me at uscapasa.externalcomm@gmail.com for more information!

How to Get Involved

There are several ways you can get into contact with Advancing Justice - LA!

For volunteer opportunities, contact Pro Bono Director Christina Yang, Esq. (probono@advancingjustice-la.org).

Facebook: AdvancingJusticeLA

Website: http://www.advancingjustice-la.org/

Best,

Amy