Chinese Mutual Aid Association

Citizenship education and employmentadult education: through a grant from the Illinois community college board (iccb), cmaa and its partner agencies - the largest and most diverse consortium in the state of Illinois - offered english as a second language (esl) and civics classes to over 800 limited english proficient (lep) immigrants and refugees across the city of chicago in fy23. Partners include the bosnian herzegovinian american community center, Chinese american service league, ethiopian community Association of chicago, erie neighborhood house, hana center, hanul family alliance, indo-american center, and touch gift foundation. In fy23, our consortium offered adult basic education classes in addition to esl classes to help clients with higher-level english improve their reading and math skills. We also provided bridge and integrated education and training classes for clients seeking to transition from education to employment. Cmaa specifically continued to offer our healthcare employment preparation program (hepp) that couples contextualized healthcare literacy classes and holistic case management toward pursuing a career in healthcare and laid the foundation for making a similar office and administrative technology offering in fy23. Hepp as well as esl and abe classes, are also offered at cmaa's satellite office in elgin, il, again primarily through iccb funding. Of course, preparing students to participate fully in their communities is a goal of all our adult education classes, with specific competencies required for certain iccb-funded courses, which cover such topics as the rights of immigrants and u.s. citizens, u.s. history and governance, accessing community resources, consumer economics, and workforce readiness skills, however, in addition to iccb, il secretary of state funds cmaa's tutoring program as an alternative or supplement to our esl class options. Il secretary of state also funds our family literacy programming, where parents of cmaa's youth program participate in cmaa's esl classes. Finally, cmaa also supported citizenship education students looking to gain us citizenship with funding from the Illinois coalition on immigrant and refugee rights (icirr) new americans initiative (nai). Employment: through layered funding mechanisms, including a grant from the city of chicago's department of family support service's community block development grant for their employment preparation program and other private and corporate funding sources, cmaa career coaches provide individualized employment preparation, referrals, and job placement assistance to unemployed or underemployed community members. Our clients represent diverse professional backgrounds, such as healthcare, hospitality, and industrial work, and have various levels of education. Although cmaa primarily serves immigrants and refugees, our workforce development program also attracts u.s.-born residents who need assistance with job readiness training, resume writing, and digital literacy. In fy23, cmaa served over 100 unique clients through both workshops and one-on-one case management. Our career coaches meet individually with all clients to address barriers and challenges to employment, conduct career skills assessments, and support their creation of and acting on an individualized employment or education plan. Our reputation over the years as a provider of quality staffing has created a network of employer partners such as weiss memorial hospital, mariano's/kroger, o'hare international airport, and the peninsula chicago.citizenship:since 1997, cmaa has offered citizenship and immigration legal services to low-income immigrants and refugees seeking to apply for u.s. Citizenship and other benefits. Our department of justice (doj) accredited staff offered individualized legal counsel and case assistance at a low cost to clients and, often, in their native languages of vietnamese, cantonese, or mandarin. In fy23, cmaa assisted over 400 clients with a variety of services: obtaining or renewing their green card, petitioning to reunite families by sponsoring members living abroad to immigrate to the us, applying for work authorization, applying for citizenship and preparing for naturalization exam, and providing counsel or referral for a host of other immigration-related issues. In fy23, cmaa submitted applications for citizenship on behalf of 179 clients.

Youth services: cmaa's youth department serves immigrant-origin, refugee, and bipoc youth residing in chicago's northside neighborhoods. Cmaa founded our youth department to address the lack of supportive services for the immigrant-origin young people in our community, who are often under-resourced, marginalized, and at high risk for social isolation. Our programming celebrates the assets of immigrant-origin students, develops youth leaders, and supports the academic and social-emotional development of our students. Across our offerings, cmaa served 200 young people, offering over 1,000 hours of programming in fiscal year 2023.cmaa's flagship youth program, diverse young leaders (dyl) is an out-of-school time (ost) academic enrichment program that serves immigrant origin, refugee, and bipoc in kindergarten-8th grade students residing in chicago's northside neighborhoods. Focusing on holistic youth development, our students build critical academic skills and social-emotional competencies. Together, these skills and competencies carry students through elementary school, high school, and higher education. During the summer months, dyl transitions to offer six weeks of full-day summer camp. For dyl students, daily tutoring is beneficial because, for a majority of our students, their parent(s) or caregiver(s) are not available to provide regular academic support. According to end-of-year survey results, 86% of students felt that cmaa helped them academically, and a handful of students even indicated they enrolled in cmaa's dyl program for tutoring and academic support. At the end of the 2022-2023 academic year, 67% of students saw grade increases in core school subjects over the year, and 76% of dyl students had a cumulative gpa in core subject classes greater or equal to a 3.0. Safe and healthy adult relationships continue to be a cornerstone of our program, and in fy23, cmaa made key program enhancements to support the social-emotional development of our students. Specifically, we implemented restorative justice into our program's curriculum, fostered opportunities for cultural connection through our dance programs, and connected students to resources beyond cmaa's programs through partner workshops hosted on-site and off. At the end of the academic year, 93% of dyl students indicated they felt they had a positive relationship with dyl staff, indicating cmaa instructors were helpful, safe to talk to, or enjoyable to work with. Furthermore, 79% of dyl students reported feelings of safety and belongingness at cmaa. In fy23, cmaa enhanced our efforts to support full-family development through our family literacy program, connecting our parents/caregivers with cmaa's english as a second language courses and family workshops and activities, promoting healthy, fun, and positive family interactions. We served 15 families through the family literacy program in fy23, offering 290 hours of adult education services, 31 hours of library services, 30 hours of parent education services, and 36 hours of parent and child together (pact) activities. All participating families received library cards and engaged in monthly literacy-themed activities with cmaa's local chicago public library branch, bezazian. Cmaa's cohort-based mentoring programs, young women warriors (yww) and young men making moves (ymmm) serve immigrant-origin mentees ages 12-22. Due to language, culture, and technology barriers, they often navigate economic, educational, and social systems alone, including high school, higher education, and the professional workplace. Yww and ymmm connect adolescent mentees with a supportive network of adults and facilitate program activities that build leadership skills, support college access, and provide career pathway exploration to guide mentees through the transitional stages of adolescence and beyond. To achieve this, cmaa facilitates regular bimonthly program offerings. First, mentors and mentees join together for a skill development workshop (sdw), which supports mentee career exploration. Each sdw focuses on exposure to career fields, interests, and hobbies. Previous topics include political engagement, financial literacy, and mental health. For the second meeting, mentors and mentees enjoy a recreational activity (ra). Ras provide exposure to new activities and a space for mentees and mentors to build relationships and experience joy together. Past activities include roller skating, cooking, and jewelry-making. At the end of fy23, 93% of mentees reported safe and positive relationships with program mentors, and 85% reported having positive peer connections with other mentees. Skill development workshops contributed to the growth of our mentees, with 85% of mentees expressing confidence in the practicality of these skills for their future.in fy23, cmaa expanded our institutional support of mentees, designing and launching our "pivotal transitions" curriculum to support mentees during key stages of adolescence. In our first year of the curriculum, cmaa offered support to 8th graders, including tutoring for the cps hsat and high school preparation workshops. Cmaa supported high school students preparing for college, offering sat tutoring, scholarship resources, and application support. Finally, cmaa assisted mentees in preparing for their careers by introducing internship stipends designed to allow mentees to seek and secure unpaid internship experiences in their fields of interest with funding provided by cmaa. These stipends provide mentees with career exposure experiences without the financial burden of engaging in unpaid labor during the school year or summer. Finally, cmaa's youth department oversees tiger tutor, our agency's first social enterprise initiative. A test preparation and tutoring program, tiger tutor focuses on individualized, high-quality instruction to help students achieve their academic and collegiate goals and currently provides small group tutoring and one-on-one instruction. Tiger tutor helps students while successfully helping cmaa diversify its revenue streams, ensuring our agency can continue to provide vital social services to our community.small business development center at cmaa:the sbdc program is the largest federally designated technical assistance program focused on supporting startups and growing small businesses in all fifty states and u.s. Territories. The primary purpose is to provide information, training, and guidance to assist and accelerate the growth potential of viable, long-term, entrepreneurial ventures, small businesses and start-up businesses to create and retain jobs in Illinois. The vision of the Illinois sbdc program is to be recognized as the leading resource for business growth, advancing the Illinois economy. So far, in fy23, the sbdc at cmaa advised 199 small business clients, of whom 73% are minority clients. Sbdc business advisors provided one-on-one counseling and assistance with developing business plans, applying for funding opportunities, devising marketing strategies and addressing other specific business needs. Our center hosted 5 educational webinars covering topics such as informational seminars on funding opportunities such as dceo back-to-business grants, how to start a business workshops and a navigating ai for small business conference. Sbdc business advisors assisted clients in whole or in part of obtaining $2.7 million in loans and an additional $1.9 million in grant and other non-debt funding such as employee retention credits. Sbdc has established multiple community partners with the goal of reaching pan-asian and underserved business communities across chicagoland. These organizations include the chinatown chamber of commerce, west ridge chamber of commerce, oak park library, skokie library, banks, law firms and other economic development organizations. In fy23, cmaa expanded its business development services by obtaining a contract from the city of chicago to establish a neighborhood business development center (nbdc). Our nbdc, designated as a place-based generalist center, specializes in offering standard business development assistance to local businesses and entrepreneurs. This assistance covers a wide range of needs, including help with obtaining business licenses and permits, navigating local government processes, creating business plans, marketing strategies, contract negotiations, product/service development, workforce training, and accessing resources. We also provide guidance on covid-related business support and reopening guidelines, all tailored to the specific needs of our local community.additionally, cmaa entered into a contract with the cook county small business source as a referral partner. In this role, we connect small business clients in our growing network with the support and resources offered by the cook county small business source. Through this partnership, we promote county initiatives like the sourc

Social services: cmaa's social services department works with the Illinois department of human services (idhs), Illinois coalition for immigrant and refugee rights, ceda, elgin township, and the grant victoria foundation to break down language and cultural barriers by helping low-income clients and families identify and access benefits that are available to them through local, state and federal programs. Our Illinois welcoming center (iwc) program serves more than 450 asylees, immigrants, refugees, and limited english-speaking households with various needs. We have 5 full-time and 1 part-time staff member providing direct services to the clients. Our direct service staff annually assisted over 2,000 families in applying for liheap, all kids, snap, medicaid application, tanf, ifrp, iwc, and other public benefits.

Golden age club: cmaa hosts the golden age club in our chicago and elgin offices. The goal of the golden age club is to provide older adults with a safe environment to gather together for social activities such as karaoke, dancing, and bingo to combat social isolation. The expansion of the golden age club into elgin began in september of 2022 with the funding of the legislative add-on provided by the Illinois department of human services. Each year, cmaa hosts a parent's day event in june and a winter holidays luncheon in december for our members. Currently, cmaa's golden age club has 130-150 active members for both the chicago and elgin locations. Cmaa also endeavors to coach our immigrant older adults on the importance of becoming more civically involved and annually brings a group of seniors to chicago's city hall and to the Illinois state capitol in springfield.in home services: cmaa contracted with the Illinois department on aging's community care program (ccp) and partnered with managed care organizations (mcos), including blue cross blue shield, aetna better health, aetna better health of Illinois, meridian health, meridian complete, molina, countycare, and humana in providing vital services for older adults living in chicago and the suburbs. The ccp, in-home services aims to facilitate and support older adults living in their own homes while aging in place. As a provider of in-home services, we also work with care coordination units (ccu) i.e., the catholic charities, premier health, and ccsi in providing person-centered assessments and designing plans of care for participants. Our dedicated team of over 300 home care aides and admin staff provides quality care to a diverse older adult population, over 395 seniors, speaking languages that include cantonese, mandarin, taishanese, vietnamese, burmese, bosnian, serbian, croatian, lao, thai, nepalese, spanish, tagalog, khmer, romanian, tibetan, teochew, tigrinya, hindi, and korean. Our caregiving team comprises more than 290 experienced home care aides and 10 staff members. Cmaa is a member of the Illinois Association of the community care program homecare providers (iaccphp) and a member of the Illinois department on aging's (idoa) community care program advisory committee (ccpac). Our director of elderly care and social services serves on the ccpac and iaccphp board to advocate for the older adults served, home care aides, and providers. Together as an organization, our director of elderly care and social services and the ccp staff consistently engage in evaluating and providing recommendations to enhance the quality of the community care program state-wide through advocacy. We partnered and housed the bosnian herzegovinian american community center (bhacc) on the golden age club, social services, and ccp.