About the APIDC

APIDC's goal is to bridge the service and cultural barriers that APIs with disabilities and their families may face. APIDC’s purpose is to act as the technical assistance network to interconnect disabilities organizations with API communities, API individuals with disabilities and their families.

A brand new organization...

"Giving a voice and a face to Asians and Pacific Islanders with Disabilities in California"

We are a small, yet strong grassroots organization of APIs with and without disabilities who believe that disability issues need to be on the same platform as all civil rights issues in the API community and in the general community.

Vision

We seek to empower Asian and Pacific Islanders individuals with disabilities through education, networking and community building. To accomplish this, our goal is to create a permanent, fully staffed coalition of organizations dedicated to serving the health and supportive services needs of the Asians and Pacific Islanders with mental and physical disabilities.

This organization will serve as a resource referral system — a clearinghouse of all Asian and Pacific Islander support organizations, establish networking relationships, and train leaders with these organizations to share information and identify common issues and barriers with the ultimate goal of changing attitudes regarding disabilities.

Objectives:

• organizational development: create a permanent coalition to:
  • serve as an information and referral clearinghouse for APIs with disabilities
  • provide an advocacy voice for APIs with disabilities
  • host conferences to encourage informational networking among individuals with disabilities, their families, and organizations (public and private) which serve/could serve APIs with disabilities
  • help groom future API leaders in the disability rights movement.

• leadership development: provide training for APIs with disabilities to become advocates and leaders in the disability rights community to influence needed changes in public policy at the community, local, state and federal levels of government.

• data collection and analysis: utilize our community collaborators in a “participatory research model” to collect data from APIs with disabilities. The data will be disseminated at conferences, published in planning and policy journals and used to further enhance policy development for the needs of Asian and Pacific Islanders with disabilities at every level of government.

• policy development and advocacy:
  • Issue White Papers.
  • Propose legislation.
  • Provide information and forums where Asian and Pacific Islanders with disabilities can influence, comment and understand pending legislation, regulations and local ordinances, impacting the disabilities community.
  • position ourselves as a point of reference for legislators seeking input on issues affecting people with disabilities.
• strategic communications: design a two-way communication stream for information sharing and advocacy campaigns.

• health education and promotion strategies: develop an educational video and live presentation (in different languages, text captioned and in sign language) to share strategies on how best to access health, education, employment and supportive services.

We formed APIDC to address a very complex issue for the API community. More importantly, we formed APIDC to fill the void in the needs of APIs with disabilities – the need to have a voice on the issue and a place that understands the numerous challenges APIs with disabilities face day-to-day. APIDC seeks to serve the needs of a community that is not being served by a culturally sensitive mainstream society or a knowledgeable API community.