Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

More than 40 years ago, a group of Filipino Americans living in the greater Los Angeles area saw the dire need to provide social, economic, cultural and health services to the large Fil-Am community residing in LA.

For almost a century, generations of Filipino migrants have chosen Los Angeles as the place to start their new lives in America. They have sought refuge in Historic Filipinotown where many Filipinos reside. However, the struggle to attain the American Dream in the lower middle-class community has been made more difficult by problems in the area like inadequate housing, insufficient childcare and substandard schools.

To address the problem, a diverse group of Fil-Ams met for a two-day conference at Camp Oak Grove in San Bernardino nearly 40 years ago. They tackled the issues that faced the substantial Filipino-American community in America, specifically those living in the LA County. They agreed that the solution cannot be done by just one group; they needed the cooperation of as many Pinoys as possible to become more involved for the greater good. Thus, the Search to Involve Pilipino Americans or SIPA was born.

"A diverse cross section of groups and individuals founded SIPA," shared current SIPA Executive Director, Joel Jacinto. In addition, the Filipino Christian Church was instrumental to the birth of SIPA, as well as "Uncle" Roy Morales, Al Mendoza, activists, scholars, university professors, parents and the youth themselves.

The vision of SIPA is to empower the Fil-Am community to enable them to achieve an excellent quality of life in America. Their mission of service for the Fil-Am comunity involves providing innovative programs that will inspire and empower the Filipino youth in the US to make smart choices, bring families together, and revitalize the community. SIPA promotes education, leadership and cultural and financial self-reliance in order to make an active, vibrant community with empowered individuals as its members.

Through the past decades, SIPA has taken the mission of service to heart, unselfishly providing for the diverse, multi-ethnic youth and families residing in the area, as well as Filipino- Americans all over the Los Angeles County. The services they offer fall under two categories: Health & Human Services and Community Economic Development. Within each group, SIPA provides a comprehensive array of programs designed to meet the needs of youth, families and individuals. The goal is to provide innovative programs that will inspire and empower youth to make smart choices, bring families together, and ultimately, revitalize the community.

Today, SIPA is recognized as the leading provider of social and economic services for the youth and families in Historic Filipinotown. It plays a vital role in the community as it champions cultural preservation and empowerment for the now diverse, multi-ethnic youth and families residing in the area, as well as Filipino-Americans all over Los Angeles County.

The health and human services aspect of SIPA focus on the personal well-being of the Filipino-American. They have counseling for individuals, families and groups, case management, community education and after-school enrichment activities for the children. All these services contribute to a realizing a capable self within each and every person, enabling them to take charge of the good future they aspire to.

The Economic Development services address the more practical needs of the struggling Filipino-American. "We’ve ventured more into the types of services that deal with economic self-sufficiency," revealed Mr. Jacinto. SIPA’s economic projects include affordable family housing projects and small business development programs. Three SIPA housing projects have already provided 138 units of affordable housing.

One of their most impressive, on-going successes is the Temple Gateway Youth & Community Center—a multi-purpose auditorium featuring an indoor theater; two youth activity rooms; two multi-use athletic courts for basketball, volleyball and other sports; a weight-training room; and more.

Currently, SIPA is building a "mixed use-mixed income" project on an old dairy site—20,000 square feet of abandoned space will become a vibrant destination site for Filipinos. This project combines community and retail in one area, with housing atop the commercial development.

SIPA has offered various programs to empower the community such as the Kultural Enrichment and Language Program (KELP), an intensive program for children teaching them the Filipino language, arts and culture to give them a "deeper awareness and understanding of cultural heritage" and "strengthening one’s own identity as Filipino Americans", said Jacinto.

SIPA also boasts of a Community Arts and Technology Center which offers free internet access and use of word processing and media arts software and instructional classes, workshops and one-on-one tutorials.

Joel Jacinto, who has been with SIPA for 17 years, says that a passionate determination to advocate health, welfare, and political and cultural empowerment in the community fuel the spirited staff of SIPA. "To me and the people that work here, it’s not a job. It’s stewardship." They all share a sense of "contributing to the greater good of the Filipino-American community" which Mr. Jacinto admits is a "tremendous responsibility". Nevertheless, it comes with a "tremendous fulfillment and satisfaction" that keeps him and the team coming to work every day.

"We try to work with the youth and families in a holistic manner, because we realize that family is a great part of the young person’s life," noted Mr. Jacinto, alluding to the strong family ties characteristic of the Filipino. A continuous stream of health and human services, community economic development and arts/cultural programs steadily work to achieve their noble objectives. Their efforts are aided by strong community relationships and partnerships with established Asian American and Filipino groups in the area, governmental and corporate sponsorships.

While it has achieved so much in empowering the FilAm community, SIPA is still and will always be searching to involve more Pinoys in its vision to equip Fil-Ams. There are many opportunities for people to get involved and help with its mission. Every Filipino is invited to join SIPA by volunteering, applying to one of its listed job openings or making a donation.

( www.asianjournal.com )

( Published on January 14, 2008 in MDWK Magazine p. 2 )