Report says model minority myth reduces public, private funds
By Alethea Yip
Asian Pacific American nonprofit organizations are severely underfunded compared with other Bay Area agencies, and analysts have put most of the blame on the model minority myth, according to a report released last week by the Asian Pacific American Community Fund.
Based on an analysis of tax reports of more than 60 organizations and a series of 20 interviews with some APA agency officials, the report concluded that APA nonprofits in San Francisco, Santa Clara, and Alameda counties receive one-half of a percent of funds distributed by local foundations, and 6.7 percent of local government block grant funding, according to the report.
"It’s a discouraging set of numbers," said Gail Kong, executive director of the Asian Pacific American Community Fund, sponsor of the study. “But it tells us we have a lot of work to do.”
The report’s findings were so disturbing to San Francisco Supervisor Mabel Teng that this week she called for a hearing at the board of supervisors’ Government Efficiency and Labor Committee to further study the funding level for APA nonprofits.
“I was appalled by the results of the study,” Teng said. “The Asian community is severely neglected by funding agencies and it has a lot to do with the level of political participation of the community. ... Funders are also affected by the misguided belief in the model minority myth, which says that we have made it, but the reality is that there are more Asian American children living in poverty today than white children.”
Teng added that, depending on the findings of the newer, more local study she is proposing, she would draft legislation to remedy the funding situation for APA nonprofits.
The report, which was funded by The Aspen Institute, also found that despite the fact that APAs make up nearly 20 percent of the Bay Area’s population and suffer about a 16 percent poverty rate-which is comparable to all other groups in the area-APA nonprofits consistently receive one-third less funding than other agencies, the study found.
But many community leaders are not surprised by the results of the report.
Vu-Duc Vuong, executive director of the Center for Southeast Asian Refugee Resettlement, said that he agrees with the conclusion that one of the major challenges for fundraising is ignorance of the needs of the community. Vuong said that, based on his experience, that has always been the case.
“There is this notion that Asian Pacific Americans have ‘made it,’” he said. “But what people don’t realize is that while there are a few successful Asians, the majority of people are struggling like everyone else.
“There are seniors living in squalor, kids involved in criminal activities, families breaking apart,” the community leader said. “We have a gamut of problems that afflict everyone else. We are subject to crime, housing shortages, and transportation problems. These issues exist because we lack a voice.”
Another finding was that APA agencies only receive about 6.4 percent of the Community Development Block Grant money, which is the most flexible and, since it is locally controlled, should be sensitive to the needs of the communities.
In addition, the financial stability of APA agencies, especially those in Alameda and those providing community services, is precarious, said Kong.
“The expectation is that since Asian organizations start at a smaller base, the rate of growth should be high,” Kong said. “But the growth is lagging at a time when the population is exploding.”
Additional disparity was found between the number of APAs in some areas compared with the number of nonprofits which service them.
In Santa Clara County alone, APAs make up about 39 percent of the population, but only 17 percent of the nonprofit service agencies are targeted for that population.
Also, the APA population in the Bay Area has grown by leaps and bounds, increasing by more than 100 percent between 1980 and 1990.
In that 10-year time period, Santa Clara County’s APA population jumped 161 percent to 261,466, or 17.5 percent of the county’s population. Alameda County’s APAs numbered 192,554 in 1990, a 124 percent increase from 1980.
Peggy Saika, the executive director of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network and a member of several foundation boards, said she understands what is happening on both sides of the table. “We haven’t been on anyone’s radar screen,” Saika said. “When they do see us, they see the model minority.
“The challenge that most nonprofits face is that you need to do so much education because there is such a distorted view of the diverse communities,” she continued. “And in organized philanthropies, there are few trustees and senior staff in those foundations.”
Saika said that the solution is a two-way street because APAs and philanthropic organizations need to reach out to each other.
“We need to be stronger advocates to push institutions to be more inclusive structurally and programmatically of Asians,” Saika said. “We need to be able to influence where funding is being allocated. But we can’t do that until the doors open to get Asian Americans on the boards and in decision-making positions.”
Mary Chung, executive director of the National Asian Women’s Health Organization, said she hopes the study, which only interviewed APA nonprofits that have clients and is not devoted to advocacy or membership groups, will educate funders and dispel myths that prevent many APA agencies from getting their fair share of funding.
“This was a groundbreaking and important study,” Chung said. “It will promote better understanding of Asian American issues among funders but, at the same time, foundations and funders need to understand the important role of advocacy groups. We are the ones who fight for and educate people about direct service programs.”
The results of this study are consistent with a national study conducted about four years ago by the Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (APIP), which concluded that 0.2 percent of foundation funding went to APA nonprofits nationally.
After those involved in the recent study presented their findings to a networking group of APAs involved in philanthropic work, APIP members decided to try to sponsor the briefing for foundations about the report, said Nelson Holl, executive director of the California Consumer Protection Foundation and member of APIP.
“It’s clear that there is inequity and growing inequity,” Holl said. “We have a lot of work to do to strengthen community organizations and to get more Asian Americans involved in the decision-making process, both in the private and public arenas.”