Chinese-American Planning Council

The Chinese-American Planning Council, Inc., originally the Chinatown Planning Council (CPC), was founded in 1965 as a grassroots community-based organization in response to the tremendous influx of Chinese immigrants after the change in immigration laws and amid the Great Society movement. Initially, CPC volunteers counseled families by referring them to local schools and provided case management services to help immigrants adjust to their new homes. Filling a void in the community as the first social service agency to serve Chinese-Americans in New York, CPC began to expand its services based on the needs expressed by those in the community.[4]

In 1966, CPC launched its Head Start Program and youth programs for preschool and school-age children. In 1970 it opened its first child care center; in 1971, it began its seminal youth program, Project Reach; and in 1972, it opened the Project Open Door Senior Citizen Center. It helped construct two uniquely conceived senior citizen residential buildings, Everlasting Pine and Hong Ning. In 1975, it launched its employment & training services with the English Language Center, which provided new immigrants with badly needed job-readiness skills training and workplace English instruction. The Chinese-American Arts Council, a CPC subsidiary, was founded in 1975.[4]

By 1983, CPC provided home care services to senior citizens through its Home Attendant Program, which continues to burgeon as the population ages. The need of low English proficient, home-bound seniors for language-appropriate, culturally sensitive care prompted the launch of CPC's Mature Workers program to train home attendants, which also answered the need for middle-aged workers to find low-skill employment that didn't require English fluency.[4]

Since the late 1970s, as the gentrification of Chinatown, Manhattan pushed up rental costs, immigrants began to move to Brooklyn and Queens, and CPC followed suit, setting up Queens (Chinatown, Flushing) and Brooklyn (Chinatown, Brooklyn) offices and changing its name and vision from the Chinatown Planning Council to the Chinese-American Planning Council. The community continued to evolve in the 1990s, with the majority of undocumented immigrants flowing in from China's Fujian Province and facing challenges that are unique yet similar to the trajectory of waves of earlier Chinese immigrants.[4]

Since the tragedy of 9/11 in 2001, one-quarter of Chinatown's workforce was out of work. CPC responded immediately by launching 9/11 relief services to help dislocated workers access emergency assistance, serving more clients than any other program in the community (3,180) due to CPC's reputation and ability to refer clients in-house to its other services. As the economic slump continued in the year after 9/11, CPC transitioned its 9/11 program to meeting long-term employment and training needs as well as ongoing case management needs, training over 800 clients and placing over 50%, a remarkable feat given the economic climate.[4]

CPC has recently achieved accreditation for its childcare centers and received three licenses to open vocational and business schools. A new program enables clients not qualified for government assistance to pay for their employment workshops and placement assistance. The Workforce Development Division is enhancing its focus on healthcare training programs to meet client and market needs in the changing economy and has introduced a new Food Protection program. In January 2005, CPC opened a one-stop multi-social services center to connect clients to services focusing on mental health, while the Brooklyn branch is conducting mental health outreach among community seniors.[4]

Over the years, CPC has honored many people of Chinese descent who have become outstanding leaders in their fields, including architect I.M. Pei (1978), musician Yo-Yo Ma (1983), fashion designer Vera Wang (1993)[5] , Major John Fugh (1994), film director Ang Lee (1996), Nobel Prize winner Dr. Daniel C. Tsui (1999), Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Sheryl WuDunn (2011), and others.

CPC holds two major events, a biennial Brooklyn Bridge Walk-A-Thon with a Family Day Fair and an annual Chinese New Year Dinner. Many elected officials support the events and CPC, including New York City Comptroller John Liu, New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, New York State Senator Tom Duane, New York City Council Member Margaret Chin, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, and many others.[6]

CPC has three main offices located in New York City. The main office is located in Chinatown in Manhattan, while the other two branches are located in Flushing, Queens and Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Each office provides different services to the community.

CPC provides over 50 programs at their 25+ locations citywide. These programs include community, daycare, workforce, senior citizen, and youth services.

The Workforce Division of the CPC was created in 1975 in response to an acute need for skilled workers in New York City. The program's primary mission is to provide advanced services, skill upgrades, and employment-related resources to individuals motivated to advance their careers.[12]

CPC's training, placement, and post-placement support service methods are characterized by its highly individualized and goal-oriented approach. This proven formula has brought the Workforce Division a long and distinguished track record that is highlighted by many awards and accolades it has received, including official commendations by the New York City Department of Employment recognizing the CPC as one of the best in training clients and placing them with top companies across the city. Currently, the CPC Workforce Division is the most successful service provider that worked with the September 11th Fund in the Employment Assistance Program, with the best placement, retention, and wage recovery/wage gain rates of any EAP service provider.[12]

• Adult Literacy Program
• Career Center
• Hospitality Career Training Program

Tens of thousands of seniors are members of CPC's three popular seniors centers and the rapidly growing Brooklyn Seniors Services. Regular members enjoy congregate meals, meals-on-wheels (through Open Door Seniors Citizen Center), a wide variety of social and recreational activities, field trips, exercise classes, educational workshops, information & referral, access to healthcare, entitlements/benefits application assistance and advocacy, senior housing services, pre-planning and bereavement services, ESL and citizenship classes, and more. An initiative at Brooklyn Senior Services is developing better preventive mental health services to serve the aging population's changing needs. Seniors also have access to CPC's affiliate, the Home Attendant Program, which provides home care for the home-bound.[2]

CPC Senior Center men dancing to "New York, New York"

Brooklyn

• Brooklyn Senior Services

Manhattan

• Chinatown Senior Citizen Center
• Open Door Senior Citizen Center

Queens

• Nan Shan Senior Center,[13]

CPC Youth Services provides dynamic educational, vocational, and recreational programs that promote leadership development, identity formation, and social and academic success, help youth expand their choices in community involvement, and overcome cultural barriers in society and school-based settings. Whether they are acquiring job skills through summer employment, touring university campuses across the region, volunteering to clean up city parks, or performing dance routines at community events, CPC youth form strong relationships with peers and mentors in a safe and supportive environment.[14]

Support Youth Poster at CPC's walkathon

Manhattan Youth

• Project Gateway (College Counseling & Education Center)
• In-School Youth/Transition to Adult Program - Manhattan
• Summer Youth Employment Program - Manhattan (SYEP)
• 21st Century Community Learning Center @ Lower East Side Prep. H.S.
• Neighborhood Development Area Program & Extended School Day/School Violence Prevention @ H.S. for Dual Language & Asian Studies
• Attendance Improvement & Dropout Prevention @ Landmark H.S.

CPC volunteers tabling at an event to outreach to the community

• Official website