Educating Youth & Engaging Them in Community Service

OCA-GLA's internship provided Jessamyn and Eric with the opportunity to conduct community service that directly addressed a problem for many Asian Pacific Americans.

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Hope After Homelessness

Once homeless living on the street in a cardboard box, Ms. Rhodora A. was able reunite with her family and find home with help from the Asian American Drug Abuse Program and their Therapeutic Community Residential Facility.

Securing a Safe & Happy Future
The Chinatown Service Center helped direct Ms. Dinh away from her abusive husband to the resources she needed to not only secure her own safety and happiness, but also that of her children and their future.

Improving Health & Wellness

With help from the Asian Pacific Healthcare Venture and their health education and self management programs, Mr. Wattana gained the knowledge to control his diabetes and look forward to a healthier life.

Empowering Domestic Violence Survivors

Ms. Garcia was able to create a better future for herself and her children after she found long-term transitional housing at the Asian Pacific Women's Center geared toward assisting and empowering domestic violence survivors.

Since its inception nearly 15 years ago, the OCA Internship Program has gained a reputation of serving as the largest educational program for college students seeking an internship experience in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. The Los Angeles office currently hosts several interns throughout the year, mainly in the summer. The Los Angeles internship provides students with an opportunity to serve the community and learn about relevant issues facing the Asian Pacific American community.

This past summer, Eric Ku and Jessamyn Huang were chosen as the two summer interns to work at OCA-Greater Los Angeles office. Eric is now a senior at UCLA majoring in English. Jessamyn graduated from UC-Irvine and is now in graduate school. Both Eric and Jessamyn worked on a variety of projects over the summer but the focus was on a new grant program called "Mentored Path to Citizenship."

Becoming a US citizen is a goal of many immigrants who come seeking the American dream.  Although many may qualify for U.S. citizenship, some may not have the financial means to pay for it.  Current application fees can be up to $675 per individual, which represents a 67% increase from 2007.  In an effort to ensure that the American dream is accessible to all, the OCA-Greater Los Angeles (OCA-GLA) chapter created a grant to help a qualified individual become a US citizen.

This one-time grant provides financial assistance toward application fees, while also giving the recipient the opportunity to receive assistance from the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) throughout the application process.

As part of their summer internship with OCA-GLA, Jessamyn Huang and Eric Ku learned extensively about the financial hurdles that immigrants face in applying for naturalization. They also became more familiar with current immigration law and the complex procedural process that immigrants must navigate. The internship, however, was not only a learning experience; OCA-GLA's internship provided Jessamyn and Eric with the opportunity to conduct community service that directly addressed a problem for many Asian Pacific Americans. They drafted the press release, application and outreach materials. Because of their efforts, OCA-GLA is happy to announce that a Pilipino couple, Mr. and Mrs. Cabobos, were chosen as the recipients of the inaugural "Mentored Path to Citizenship" grant. OCA-GLA hopes this grant will be the first of many to come and looks forward to a continued partnership with APALC on important issues facing our community.  

Eric said this of his experience: "The fact that application fees for citizenship can cost up to $675 shows just one of the initial obstacles immigrants face in achieving the American Dream. I was happy to give back to the community and work on something that would help others achieve the same goals that my parents had when they immigrated to the U.S."

Jessamyn stated, "Naturalization opens up a lot of doors that would not have been previously available to the person before. I admire the fact that organizations like OCA-GLA are keeping their pulse on the community, seeing how they can help individuals. I found the experience extremely rewarding."

For more information on OCA, Greater Los Angeles, or their internship, visit www.oca-gla.org or call (323) 293-6284.