Chinese-American Planning Council statement on New York City’s FY22 adopted budget
New York City passed a $98.7 billion budget earlier today. As New York focuses on recovery and reopening, nonprofit human services workers remain on the frontlines of addressing this crisis, meeting community needs through food access and eviction prevention to senior services and child care. The Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC) acknowledges the Mayor and the City Council for important investments in our communities and the organizations that serve them, yet there is still more to be done to ensure a truly equitable recovery for all New Yorkers.
CPC applauds the creation of a $4 million initiative called AAPI Community Support for Asian-led and Asian-serving organizations to provide direct services, mental health support, youth programs, racial literacy, and other culturally competent services for Asian American community members. We encourage the City Council to quickly designate this funding to community-based organizations as intended, particularly to smaller organizations that are often left out of the budget and serve emerging populations.
CPC is glad to see that this budget has baselined $8 million for Adult Literacy programs and invested in a new pilot program at $2.5 million. Over 40 organizations including CPC provide Adult Literacy programs to support literacy, high school equivalency, and civics education for adults. We are also pleased to see the enhancement of Access Health NYC to $4 million to over 40 organizations. These programs will greatly support diverse immigrant communities by addressing the inequitable gap in digital literacy, systems navigation skills, and access to health resources available to New Yorkers.