Chinese American Organizations in the United States and Canada

CHINESE ASSOCIATION

China is a complex and diverse society. Its leaders see it as a developing country with a large rural population concerned about ensuring food, housing and education.

Its leaders seek to balance Confucianism’s emphasis on the middle way, harmonious society and knowing one’s place with Leninist state power, disciplined leadership and enlightened officials as moral exemplars.

Purdue University Undergraduate Chinese Association

Purdue University is one of America’s land-grant colleges and a world-renowned engineering, science and agricultural institution. The university is a place where students have many opportunities to learn, innovate and lead.

But the university’s bucolic campus in Indiana’s heartland is a dangerous place for some Chinese students. Beijing’s state security apparatus monitors dissent with impunity on American campuses, according to national security officials, human rights experts, educators and dissidents.

The pressures on Chinese students have intensified as the US seeks to contain China’s rise, observers say. Students with particularly sensitive upbringings, identities or religious beliefs are more likely to be targets because their views are more provocative. They also have a harder time finding support on campus because other students fear reporting them to the government. This can result in a paranoid and isolated existence. Some have even been driven out of their schools. The experience is common among people of color, but especially for Chinese students.

Chinese Mutual Aid Association

Founded in 1981, the Chinese Mutual Aid Association serves the needs, promotes the interests, and enhances the well-being of low-income diverse immigrant and refugee communities across Chicagoland. CMAA provides social services, educational programming and assistance for youth, adults, seniors and small businesses. It also offers immigration legal services and citizenship assistance.

Founder Duc Huang and his daughter Yman Vien wanted to give back for the hospitality they received when they arrived as refugees. Consequently, they established a community-based agency that focuses on fostering client integration into American society through after school and summer youth programs, adult education, job skills training and placement, and elder services as well as an Illinois Small Business Development Center.

CMAA’s multilingual staff addresses the immediate survival needs of its clients and assists them in growing roots through their integration into Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood and the suburb of Elgin. CMAA is supported by state and local government, foundations, corporations and private individuals.

Chinese Professionals Association

The Chinese Professionals Association (CPA) is a non-profit organization in the United States of America. It encourages networking among young professionals and promotes Chinese culture to the next generation. CPA has local chapters in the US and China. The organization also offers scholarships to students studying in Quebec and Canada.

The CCBA is home to two family associations, a federal credit union, Chinese and English classes, a magazine and media services group and the well-known Chinatown Crime Watch program. The organization is governed by an executive board of five members, including a president and English and Chinese secretaries.

The ACA provides year-round programs to enrich the lives of Chinese and Asian Pacific Americans. Across its four service centers, it offers ESL classes, health seminars, social work services, immigration assistance and recreation and exercise activities. ACA’s programs are especially targeted to youth, seniors and low-income individuals and families. In addition to its many services, ACA has a thriving volunteer program.

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