About BCA

 

Nineteen years ago when Brooklyn Chinese-American Association (BCA) was founded, the Eighth Avenue area of Sunset Park, Brooklyn was depleted.  What was once a bustling street crowded with Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish shops in the first half of the 20th century was deadly quiet by 1988.  The closing of the Brooklyn waterfront, the main source of employment for immigrant Scandinavians in the neighborhood, had devastated the local economy.  Real estate values plummeted and the crime rate crept alarmingly higher each year.  Long-established families who lived in the largest registered historic district in New York State sold off their elegant limestone row houses and fled to the suburbs.  Soon, close to 90% of the storefronts on Eighth Avenue were vacant.  At the same time, the Chinese began to move in.  By 1988, there were approximately 3,000 Asian-Americans and twelve Asian-American-operated businesses in Sunset Park.  Some were new arrivals from abroad, and others had come from Manhattan Chinatown, one of the most overcrowded neighborhoods in all of New York City and a neighborhood squeezed from all sides by downtown Manhattan’s increasing rents.  The Chinese found a new frontier in Sunset Park.  Property was relatively inexpensive and space was readily available.  To the Chinese, the long-forgotten strip called Eighth Avenue was full of promise.  Hoping to fulfill dreams of economic success, this first wave of Chinese immigrants began to settle in the area.  Those who could afford bought up abandoned properties; the rest would rent.

 

        And what the Chinese had developed in Manhattan Chinatown, they built in Brooklyn.  First a few Chinese grocery stores opened up. Then restaurants moved in.  Even garment factories, a major employer of Chinese-Americans, were established in the industrial outskirts of Sunset Park. But for all the comfort that the Chinese immigrants could find in their new neighborhood, they realized there was still a significant obstacle hindering them from achieving their dreams of prosperity.  They had created their own world, but they were isolated from the larger world of New York City and the United States.  Notices in English about social welfare and other literatures crucial to their daily life usually went unread.

 

       One individual - Paul Mak - decided to take on the responsibility of addressing the community’s growing needs.  He was a project manager for a non-profit organization that sought to develop the depressed local economy on Eighth Avenue.  In 1987, at a community town hall meeting held by Mak’s organization that attracted over 250 people, about fifty Asian-Americans voiced concerns that were specific to the Chinese community, among them a shortage of bilingual support systems for immigrants.  After the meeting, the idea for a social services agency for Brooklyn’s Asian-Americans was conceived.  On January 19, 1988, the Eighth Avenue Community Chinese-American Association of Brooklyn was officially founded in the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall at 3906 Eighth Avenue. The organization had a humble beginning with only a handful of people providing limited social services on a voluntary basis, helping immigrants who had low English proficiency with issues related to government social programs.  The response from the community was tremendous; lines of people clutching letters and forms stretched out the door.  In 1990, Paul Mak resigned from his salaried job and became the Association’s first full-time volunteer.  In the following years, this fledging organization grew with the rapidly expanding community.  It became the Brooklyn Community Chinese-American Association, which later flourished into what is now known as the Brooklyn Chinese-American Association (BCA).                          

 

        One could perhaps attribute BCA’s success to both vision and initiation.  In less than a month after the initial establishment of the Association, in order to put the remote Eighth Avenue community on the map, it accomplished its first large-scale project - a Lunar New Year Parade in Sunset Park.  This joyous celebration held on a dreary street brought together people of diverse ethnic backgrounds and successfully marked a turning point for Sunset Park.  Media attention brought focus to the growing Asian-American community in Brooklyn.  Chinese-operated stores on Eighth Avenue started to open at the rate of three or four per month.  Within one year, there was a 300% growth in business and in the Asian population in Sunset Park and surrounding areas.  No one could have ever conceived of a “Brooklyn Chinatown” before 1988.  After the parade, a “Brooklyn Chinatown” seemed inevitable.

 

        On August 22, 1988, a high school student named W.H. Mui was robbed and killed in Sunset Park.  His family members, unfamiliar with the legal and criminal justice system of the United States, were at a total loss.  Having learned about the case from the newspapers, BCA approached the family to offer assistance.  While raising funds for Mui’s memorial and working intensely with the local police precinct, BCA utilized its relationship with the local community to help trace the suspect, and eventually obtained information leading to the capture of Mui’s killer.  The victim’s family, still reeling from their loss, could at least find solace in that justice was served.  Since the solving of this first homicide case, BCA realized that its commitment to the community needed to go beyond translating government documents into Chinese.  Its mission should be greater; it should become an active liaison between the Asian-American community and all levels of government. 

 

        With this mission in mind, BCA began its close relationship with the New York City Police Department.  A Crime Victim’s Hotline was established soon after the Mui case.  A petition was initiated, resulting in the assignment of the first bilingual police officer in the neighborhood.  The New York City Police Department, recognizing BCA’s dedication, then asked the Association to translate its fourteen public safety tips into Chinese, and subsequently commended BCA with an award of recognition.  In 1990, BCA worked with the NYPD and the Transit Police to solve another homicide that involved a Chinese-American who was killed senselessly on the subway minutes before arriving at the Eighth Avenue Station.  BCA also worked with the NYPD to eliminate Asian youth gangs in the area, allowing the “Brooklyn Chinatown” to proudly emerge as the first Asian community in New York City to eliminate the problem of gang violence.

 

        The year 1990 was eventful.  BCA held its first fundraising dinner, and received its first government grant of $8,000 from the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities.  During the same year, BCA also began to collaborate with Lutheran Medical Center and other agencies to conduct the first major community need survey in the Sunset Park Asian Community.  After successfully interviewing 5,000 individuals and households, the survey documented key demographic information of a previously understudied Asian community in Southwest Brooklyn, revealing its population growth and needs for various services.  Based on the results of the survey, Lutheran Medical Center developed the first bilingual medical clinic in Brooklyn for the local Chinese, who had previously had to travel to Manhattan to receive services.

 

        It was also in 1990 that BCA established its office at a basement on the corner of 52nd Street and Eighth Avenue.  Within six months, the Association relocated to a larger office at 5313 Eighth Avenue. The future seemed bright.  No one, however, could have foreseen the effects of the economic recession in 1991.  As the city and the state struggled with the budget crisis, promised grants were frozen or cancelled altogether. The lack of government funding meant major crunch for non-profit organizations like BCA. Unpaid bills led to utilities and phone lines being terminated. Dedicated staff worked voluntarily for months before receiving their paychecks. A complete shutdown of the Association was scheduled for April 1991.

 

        However, Paul Mak was instilled with the same diligence and optimism as the community he served.  His perseverance and tenacity kept BCA alive.  He was able to revitalize the Association by exploring and securing new funding, and was even able to rescue some of the promised funding awards that had been expected to be cancelled.  In the years that followed, program after program for children, youth, adult learners, and seniors were initiated.  In late 1991, BCA launched its first after-school program.  In 1993, the first English class began, the Sunset Park Asian Senior Center opened, and the 53^rd Street office expanded into a one-stop service facility.  In 1994, BCA renovated an abandoned garment factory building at 5000 Eighth Avenue, converting the first floor into a day care center and the second floor into the Main Community Service Center.  BCA’s first early childhood education program started in September of 1995.  In the following year, the Avenue U Senior Center was established.

 

        These programs have been growing quickly and steadily over the past years.  In 2001, children were welcomed into a new day care facility on 54th Street off Eighth Avenue.  This year, 300 preschoolers are enrolled in BCA’s Universal Pre-Kindergarten program and full-day ACS as well as Head Start programs, with many more on the waiting list.

 

        BCA’s after-school programs currently serve nearly 1,000 public school students daily at five school buildings in Sunset Park, Borough Park, Bay Ridge, Sheepshead Bay, and Bensonhurst.  These programs integrate a diverse combination of activities, including academic enhancement, arts and crafts, leadership training, and martial arts.  Every summer, BCA operates a Summer Day Camp, which is expected to serve 1,500 children in the coming summer.  The Chinese Cultural School, established in 1997, has flourished into a model language school that received recognition from the City Council in October 2001. 

 

        BCA’s adult literacy, job development, citizenship and other adult education programs offer over thirty concurrent classes at various levels.  Well over 1,200 adult learners per year learn everything from the English alphabet to the operation of word processing software, from the history of the Bill of Rights to the use of a voting machine.  These programs aim at providing immigrant adults with the means and opportunities to become productive citizens and contributing members of society.   

 

        BCA’s senior centers, albeit still struggling with limited funding, have developed into common meeting places where seniors find companionship and engage in a variety of activities.  Essential social services are provided at the centers.  Congregate meals are served five days a week.  Health workshops as well as educational, cultural and recreational activities are regularly scheduled.  In addition, in March 2005 and December of 2005, BCA established two new senior centers to serve more seniors in Bay Ridge and Bensonhurst.

 

        Along with programs for children, youth, adult learners and seniors, bilingual social services remain the core of BCA’s services.  To optimize service delivery, BCA has worked extensively with the government and other organizations to provide specialized on-site services.   The Social Security Administration has been dispatching a representative to conduct eligibility interviews at BCA’s office on a weekly basis. The Legal Aid Society holds consultations at BCA in matters of family and immigration laws.  Major healthcare providers regularly conduct free health screenings.  Other public and private organizations, including the FDNY, the NYPD and utility companies, hold periodic workshops.

 

        With its first commitment to the constantly growing Asian-American population in Brooklyn, BCA is equally committed to serving the broader community of New York City and the nation by being a representative of Brooklyn’s Asian-American community to the larger world.  To offer the Chinese a voice in the city, BCA has been co-publishing the award winning Brooklyn Chinese Monthly since January 1998.  It has become the most reputable Brooklyn-based Chinese-language newspaper with a monthly circulation of 35,000 copies distributed freely at 150 locations throughout the city.  To encourage Asian-Americans of Brooklyn to become active participants in the American democratic process, BCA has been organizing town hall meetings, candidate forums, and voter registration drives during election seasons.  BCA has also been coordinating community forums to bring together the public and elected officials, business owners, community leaders and other community members to discuss various issues and concerns, such as crime prevention and reporting, sanitation, and community networking.

 

        In 2003, alarmed by increasing incidents of violence among youth, BCA began to reinforce a strategy of serving the community by providing family-oriented services.  After much effort, BCA secured government funding to launch two full-day childcare programs in 2003 to target the needs of low-income and two-working-parents families.  A family literacy program was also initiated in 2003 to enhance the literacy development of the whole family.  In 2004, these programs were further developed to incorporate more activities designed to involve parents in their children’s education.  BCA’s family literacy program initiated its parenting workshops series in 2004, as well as conducted joint field trips for both parents and children to facilitate cooperative learning between them.  BCA’s Head Start Program and ACS-funded Day Care Program have been offering various intergenerational activities.  These activities, including arts and crafts projects surrounding cultural festivals, enabled parents to become active participants in their children’s everyday learning.  In particular, the Head Start program has been actively getting parents involved in the classroom activities through working as volunteers in planning and implementing classroom and program activities.  The Policy Council has also been set up to involve parents in the program’s decision-making process and to enable parents to contribute their input and feedback.  Overall, by encouraging parental involvement in children’s learning process, BCA hopes to strengthen the “family” as a whole unit, and by doing so, promote the long-term stability and development of the community.

 

During the past year, BCA initiated many new services to meet the needs of the community, the first one being the opening of a spacious 6^th Avenue Senior Center on March 10, 2005.  This new center serves not only Asian senior citizens residing in Sunset Park, but also those in Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Borough Park, Dyker Heights, and Kensington.  BCA 6^th Avenue Senior Center offers over 8,000 square feet of space, which includes a gymnasium to better accommodate various activities and services for the seniors.  The services include health and nutrition workshops, free medical examinations, singing and dance classes, educational programs, Chinese cultural dance, Chinese opera classes, ballroom dancing, and other group activities. The second new service area is designed to serve the new immigrants.  Those who have been living in the United States for five years can take advantage of our comprehensive naturalization service to successfully become citizens. Services include free application assistance, citizenship classes, application management, citizenship interview preparation, etc.  The third new service was created in response to the changes and growth in Asian immigrant population. A district office was opened in Bensonhurst to better serve the residents there.  Social and senior services, as well as ESL classes for seniors, adults, and parents are offered at the district office.  An after-school program will be implemented there shortly.

 

For the past nineteen years, Brooklyn Chinese-American Association has been working tirelessly in the face of adversity for the betterment of the community.  BCA remains committed to its goal of implementing comprehensive bilingual human services and community development projects, as well as creating and developing new services and programs to meet upcoming challenges.  BCA will continue to strive for the future of our borough and do its best to create a better tomorrow.  BCA’s upcoming projects include the restoration and renovation of the landmark building on 4^th Avenue, the relocation and expansion of our Head Start Center as well as the enhancement of our existing four senior citizen centers.  Furthermore, BCA will be working closely with other governmental agencies to develop and implement strategically planned actions to empower and enhance the Brooklyn Asian communities through economic development, neighborhood zoning changes, traffic resolutions…

 

It is also our dream that one day, BCA will have its permanent Headquarters and that all of its services will be offered under one big roof.