The peer supportcircles are run by theAYA girls, a licensedtherapist and anAPEN staffperson. Itcreates a space forthe girls to not onlyto express them-selves, but a chanceto listen, give sup-port and practicegiving advice. The girls have feltstrongly about having this experiencebecause it helps them build deeper

relationshipsw i t h e a c ho t h e r, t h e i rf ami l i e s andcommunity.

To expandtheir politicalconsciousness,we looked intothree commu-

nities for our political education ses-sions. The girls’ first destination wasto their own Laotian community, to

With the growing momentum ofPower in Asians Organizing

(PAO), the community residents’ con-cern about the housing crisis and theupcoming November 2002 elections,APEN is promoting two ballot meas-ures aimed at creating and improvingfair and affordable housing in Oaklandand the state of California. The twoimportant housing initiatives areProposition EE, the Just cause initia-

tive, and Proposition 46, the Housingand Emergency Shelter Trust Fund.

The Just Cause initiative, orProposition EE, is a measure that willput in place basic protections forrenters against unfair evictions. IfProposition EE passes, it will requirelandlords to have a “just cause” inorder to evict tenants. Currently,Oakland has a “no-cause” evictionpolicy. For example, even if a tenant

This year’s Asian Youth Advocates summer program was filled with poli-tics, support and fun! Starting in June through August, the girls met for

peer support circles, studied community struggles in their political educationsessions, and traveled to fun activities for team-building.

FIGHTING FOR HOUSING ONTHE NOVEMBER BALLOT

GROWING YOUTH LEADERSHIPBy Sandy Saeturn & Mari Rose Taruc

Asian Pacific Environmental NetworkVolume 1, Issue 3, September 2002

APEN

(continued inside)

(continued on next page)

AYA members interviewed at the Satjadhamconference

has been a good tenant and pays renton time, a landlord can still issue a30-day eviction notice without validreason. Just Cause is a basic protec-tion for renters that has already beenadopted by many cities in the BayArea, including San Francisco,Hayward and Berkeley. It is time thatOakland joins its neighboring citiesin improving tenants’ rights.

Proposition 46, the Housing &Emergency Shelter Trust Fund is a$2.1 billion state housing bond. IfProposition 46 passes, there arenumerous benefits for Californians.

the Satjadham (“Literature forJustice”) conference. This annualconference was held in Richmond,CA this year to bring voices of dif-ferent ages together, as well as learnmore about different Laotian com-munities throughout the country.Then we headed over to the EastlakeFestival in east Oakland to help oursister project PAO with surveyingcommunity folks about their housingconcerns. For our 3rd session, ouryoung AIWA (Asian ImmigrantWomen Advocates) sisters gave usan actual tour of a sweatshop inOakland Chinatown. Their presen-tation and the skits we acted outtogether about the unfair and unsafeworking conditions behind designer

APE

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oic

es

fashion labelsreally made usthink different-l y a b o u t o u rshopping choic-e s . W o w, s omuch to learnabout ourselvesand others!

What betterway to build teamwork than to try toget around a big lake, paddle-boat-ing in Lake Chabot in San Leandro?Maybe it’s dodging Bay Bridge trafficto get to a youth theatre perform-ance in San Francisco? Or keepingeach other warm through the gush-ing bay winds riding the ferry to Pier39? Or maybe it’s being bravetogether to ride all the monster rideslike Medusa at Six Flags Marine

World, Vallejo? We think it’s all ofit. These fun activities helped thegirls value each other’s presence andcontributions to the team, no matterwhere they were. It was an alsoopportunity to get out of Richmondand see other places.

So this summer is over, but thegirls will continue to do build AYAthroughout the year. AYA is current-ly gearing up and preparing for the EJSummit in October in D.C. with

o t h e r y o u t hgroups in the BayArea. So if youwant to enjoythese activitiesw i t h u s , w ealways welcomevolunteers—sojust give us a call.We know you’llhave a blast!

310 8th Street, Suite 309

Oakland, CA 94607

Tel: (510) 834-8920 Fax: (510) 834-8926

Email: apen@apen4ej.org

www.apen4ej.org

MissionAll people have a right to a clean

and healthy environment in whichtheir communities can live, work,

learn, play and thrive. Toward thisvision, the Asian Pacific Environmental

Network was founded to bring toge-ther a collective voice among the

diverse API communities in the UnitedStates to develop an alternative agendafor environmental, social and economic justice. Through building an organized

movement of grassroots people, westrive to bring fundamental changes to

institutions that will prioritize publicgood over profit and to promote the

right of every person to a decent, safe,affordable quality of life, in which we participate in collectively made

decisions affecting our lives.

Asian Pacific Environmental Network

StaffAmber Chan

Organizer

Vivian ChangOrganizing Director

Audrey ChiangGrants Manager

Andrew ChungBookkeper

Manami KanoDevelopment

Coordinator

Grace KongLead Organizer

Joselito LaudenciaExecutive Director

Ann NinhOperations Associate

Torm Nompraseurt Senior Organizer

May PhanOrganizer

Sandy SaeturnGeneral Support

Associate

Mari Rose Taruc Operations Director

Lisa De CastroDevelopment Assistant

Jenny LinResearch Associate

Board ofDirectors

Gina Acebo

Pratap ChatterjeeVice Chair

Jack Chin

David KakishibaTreasurer

Pam Tau LeeChair

Yin Ling Leung

MarthaMatsuoka

AYA (continued from front page)

Editor:Manami Kano

Design: Innosanto

Nagara

Lisa De Castro,DevelopmentAssistant

In 1996, Lisa movedto California from

New Jersey after earning her BA inMath and Economics from BostonCollege. She spent one year provid-ing emergency services to thehomeless population of Sacramentoat an outdoor homeless shelter.And in the past 4 years, Lisaworked as an environmental con-sultant, performing emergencyresponse investigations and assess-ments at various hazardous materi-als sites on the West Coast andPacific Islands. She comes to APENwith much enthusiasm and thedesire to learn as much as possibleabout the development field!

Jenny Lin, Research Associate

Jenny joins us fromL.A., and has beeninvolved in organizing

and research around education,housing, and labor since 1998. From1998-2000 Jennifer served as theProject Director of the Student ofColor Campus Diversity Project ofthe U.S. Student Association, anational student organization dedi-cated to expanding educationalacces s . After USSA, Jenni fe rreceived her Masters in Public Policyfrom the UCLA School of PublicPolicy and Social Research. While atUCLA, Jennifer conducted researchand worked for organizations includ-ing the Los Angeles GarmentWo r k e r s C e n t e r a n d Ve n i c eCommunity Housing Corporation.

WELCOME OUR NEW STAFF!

Stacy of AIWA in skit

AYA’s Seangthip in skit

Low-income seniors, disabled persons,and families with children wouldreceive $910 million for rental hous-ing. $495 million would be set asidefor homeownership programs, includ-ing sweat equity housing, wherehomebuyers volunteer their ownlabor to help build their homes tolower the purchase price, and downpayment assistance for low and mod-erate-income families. Emergencyshelters and permanent housing withsupport services for homeless seniors,battered women, the mentally ill andveterans would be given $390 million.Farm worker housing, both rental andownership, would be granted $200million. Another $100 million wouldcreate incentives for local govern-ments to approve housing develop-ments. Finally, $5 million would bereserved for local code enforcementt o r e v i t a l i z e n e i g h b o r h o o d s .Proposition 46 is a bond that will bepaid for from existing funds in thestate general fund and no new taxeswould need to be created. Proposition

Housing initiatives(continued from front page)

46 is an important step in improvingthe lives of Californians in need ofaffordable housing.

The housing crisis in Californiaaffects all of us and we have the powerto positively impact the California’shousing situation. The issues of hous-ing affordability and tenants’ rightsare critical to improving the lives ofthe many API community membersin Oakland and throughoutCalifornia. Please pledge your sup-port to PAO and join us by voting yeson Propostion EE and Propostion 46!

Make a contribution to APENand support API communitiesfighting for positive change! Callus at 510.834.8920 for more infor-mation on any of these givingopportunities.

Join APEN’s Circle of FireMonthly Donor Program

Let us do all the work! Once amonth, we debit your credit cardsecurely through egrants.org and yourreliable monthly donation supportsour on-going work. Your gift is imme-diately put towards APEN’s programs.

Make an on-line donation

Visit www.apen4ej.org and click theDonateNow! button. All on-linedonations are made secure throughegrants.org.

Give at the office

If your workplace is part of a campaignlike the United Way or the CaliforniaState Employees Campaign, you canwrite APEN, tax i.d. #94-3261846 inthe “Donor Option” section of thecard, or ask your office administratorfor the “Option Card.”

Have your office give

If your organization or corporation hasa matching gifts program, you coulddouble or triple your gift to APEN.

Donate stock

Stock not doing well? Give it toAPEN and get a big tax break at thesame time.

Send us your unused BARTtickets

5 or 10 cents left over on your BARTticket? Mail them to APEN! Weneed to reach our goal of 500 tickets!

Volunteer your time

We appreciate your help with mail-ings, hosting a house party, providingchildcare at events, driving membersto and from meetings, and otheroffice tasks.

We are proud to announce thatAPEN’s Laotian Organizing

Project organizing staff team, GraceKong, Torm Nompraseurt and MayPhan, are 2002 Leadership for aChanging World Awardees! Eachyear, Leadership for a ChangingWorld recognizes 20 leaders andleadership teams who representsocial change efforts in local commu-nities across the country.

LOP is honored to receive thisprestigious award, and sees ourinvolvement over the next two yearsas a way to connect and share lessonswe’ve learned through our organizingwork with the other groups, and tobring national attention to the issuesfacing low-income Asian immigrantand refugee communities.

Leadership for a Changing Worldis a program of the Ford Foundationin partnership with the AdvocacyInstitute and the Robert F. WagnerGraduate School of Public Service,New York University. We want tothank all those who participated inthe nomination and site visit process:Peggy Saika, Pam Tau Lee, MichaelKent, Karen Susag, Henry Clark,John Dalrymple, Supervisor JohnGioia, Terrance Cheung, ChrisKarnsouvoung, Pastor OunKhamvanhthong, Phaeng Toom-maly, Pratap Chatterjee, LOP’sCampaign Planning Committee,Asian Youth Advocates representa-tives, APEN staff, and especiallySandy Saeteurn, LOP’s GeneralSupport Associate, without whomnone of our work would be possible!

LOP WINS LEADERSHIP AWARD

Mary ChaleunsyMimi Ho

Jocelyn HsuMai Kai Lee

Innosanto NagaraErin Ninh

Kelly SaeturnMuey Saeturn

Thanks to our StellarVolunteers!

2002 Donors:Lina Avidan and Joe

SandovalRobin BakerNikki Bas and Brad

EricksonMichelle BautistaElizabeth BayleSharon BayleJodie BergerElinor BlakeMichael BlakeLilly BourguignonJudy BradyBarbara BrennerChina BrotskyBeverly BrownTessa Callejo and William

BlackAnne CaploeJeff CesarAda Chan and Chris

DurazoSue ChanPratap ChatterjeeMike ChavezAdelaide ChenSabina ChenAudrey Chiang and Tim

BeloneyBetty and George ChiangPamela ChiangColleen ChienGeorge and Grace ChinJack Chin and Hedy ChangKaren Chin and Phil

CalhounWillard ChinEner ChiuCindy ChoiAdena ChungDerek Chung

Michael CohenRaymond A. Colmenar &

Fatima AngelesJennifer CornKirsten CrossChristine CurranRamie DareNicole DavisGopal DayaneniGiovanna Di ChiroAntonio DiazGeorge DoueMarta DruryM.E. DuekerKit Durgin and Elaine

McKinleySara and Ethan EldridgeJuliet EllisTorri J. EstradaLora Jo FooStephanie GaasEileen GaunaKate GodfreyDennis GohMiye GoishiMichael GreenRobert L. HarrisJohn HaskinsSylvia HillAlex HingChristopher Ho and

Kirsten Irgens-MollerMimi HoHerb Holman and Audee

Kochiyama-HolmanSteve HomJohn HurstDon HwangChizu and Ernie IiyamaAnn IshimaruBeth Ising and Mary Kate

Cullen

Corinne JanMelinh JenkinsElaine Joe and Julian LowSharon JonesAdele KanedaKeiko & Sachio KanoLenn KanoManami KanoMiho KimNancy I. KimWayne KoikeStacy KonoBonnie KooLara KueppersScott T. KurashigeLaura Kurre and Michael

OheaneySunye KwackShanna LangdonHue LauJoselito LaudenciaSonny Le and Ann ChunChristina LeanoAlfred LeeEd LeeEleanor G. Lee0Huey LeeLily LeeLynette LeeNancy LeePam Tau LeeSun LeeKen and Tracey LeongYin Ling Leung and Shaibal

RoySteve LewPenn LohNguyen LouieBetita MartinezEiko Y. and Edward H.

Matsuoka

Martha MatsuokaLeticia MehrweinFrank MelcherDale MinamiMeredith MinklerJennifer MorozumiAnn NinhThuan Duc Ninh and

Minha TranRuby and Donald OkazakiMargo Okazawa-Rey and

Gwyn KirkJeffrey OwSandra ParkRomel PascualChristine PecciDawn PhillipsSteven C. PittsGerald Poje and Marie

Ann LeykoRand QuinnMatt RemleCathy RionJane RogersEric SaijoPeggy Saika & Art ChenIkuko SatoSteven SchwartzbergBindi and Rajen ShahBhavna ShamasunderEveline ShenMegan Kelly and Craig

SmithAbdi SoltaniSteven SoongJohn F. StevensonJo SuRhea SuhMyra SumaragaJulie SzeRobynn TakayamaJosefina N. and Ernesto C.

TarucMignon and John TauChith-Aly Thirakul and

Boone LekDaniel ToleranAlex T. TomMary TomitaDiana and Isao TomonariMark ToneyLinh TranTuyet Khanh TranNadia UnderhillBob and Yvonne UyekiBecky WongSusanne WongWilliam and Joyce Mende

WongWesley WooDianne Yamashiro-Omi

and Michael OmiSylvia YeeKathleen YepMiya Yoshitani and Danny

Kennedy

Foundation Support in 2002

Active Element FoundationAkonadi FoundationBeldon FundBen & Jerry's FoundationCenter for Community

Change/Charles StewartMott Foundation

Diversity Network ProjectEast Bay Community

FoundationEnvironmental Support

Center French American

Charitable TrustJessie Smith Noyes

FoundationLeadership for a Changing

World - AdvocacyInstitute - FordFoundation

McKay FoundationNew Field Fund of the

Tides FoundationNew World FoundationNorman FoundationNorthern California

Grantmakers - SummerYouth Project

Potrero Nuevo Fund of theTides Foundation

San Francisco FoundationSolidago FoundationThe California EndowmentThe California Wellness

Foundation"The Community

Environmental HealthResource Center, a proj-ect of the Alliance toEnd Childhood LeadPoisoning"

US EPA - EnvironmentalJustice Small GrantsProgram

Vanguard PublicFoundation

VanLobenSels/RembeRockFoundation

Walter S JohnsonFoundation

Women's Foundation -Sisterhood Fund

Zellerbach FamilyFoundation

We apologize for any acci-dental omissions to this list.

Asian PacificEnvironmental Network

310 8th street, suite 309Oakland, CA 94607

Thank you for your support in 2002!

fold

Housing is a Key Environmental Justice Issue! By Joselito Laudencia, Executive Director

When APEN’s organizing projects in the Bay Area communities of Richmond and Oakland asked

community members what issue currently concerned them most, housing emerged at the top of

the list. It’s no surprise. Over the last few years in the SF Bay Area, rents have skyrocketed, buying a

home is out of the reach of the vast majority of local residents, and toxic mold in the home has become

both a local and national headline. As APEN embarks on a regional campaign to tackle housing issues

in low-income Asian Pacific Islander communities, the question has emerged: How is housing an envi-

ronmental justice issue?

While environmental issues havebeen largely associated with conserva-tion, wildlife protection and openspace, environmental justice emergedto expand the notion that our envi-ronments were more than the “natu-ral” environments that surround us.Environmental justice interconnectsthe seemingly separate issues we faceand asserts that our environmentincludes “where we live, work, play,learn and pray.” Environmental jus-tice prioritized people as an importantpiece of the environment that needprotection as well and, importantly,recognized poor communities of coloras bearing a large and disproportionateshare of problems.

Housing issues are nothing new tocommunities of color. Segregatedneighborhoods, housing discrimina-tion, redlining practices of banks thatdeny loans to particular communities,substandard housing and communitydisplacement are some of the manyissues people of color have historicallyfaced in the United States. However,over the past few years, numerousenvironmental justice groups have

taken on the charge of housing as akey environmental justice issue andhave identified underlying root causesto these problems that expose the linkbetween housing and traditional EJissues such as toxic dumping in ourcommunities.

Imbalance of power relations

The displacement of communitiesand the tenuous relationship betweenlandlords and low-income tenants(who in many cases have few protec-tions) reflect the often powerless situ-

ation of tenants, poor people and peo-ple of color. Over the last two years,community members of the LaotianOrganizing Project (LOP) were unjust-ly evicted so that their landlords couldraise the rents on their properties. Thislack of power, especially in immigrantand refugee communities, often is atthe heart of why corporations polluteour environments and why regulatoryagencies turn their heads away.Organizing community power is a keystrategy to the EJ movement to chal-lenge these conditions.

Environmental health

Neighborhoods and homes locatednext to polluting facilities likeRichmond’s Chevron oil refinery orOakland’s Red Star Yeast factory havelong been the source of environmentaljustice struggles. In most cases, fami-lies in these communities experiencehigher rates of asthma, reproductiveproblems and cancer. Within thehome itself, lead in paint chips andasbestos in insulation have causeddevelopmental disorders in children.Most recently, mold in homes causing

Asian Pacific Environmental Network

310 8th street, suite 309Oakland, CA 94607

Overcrowded homes

Nita Sisam

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th

chronic health problems has receivedincreased public attention. As part ofa photo project that documentedhousing issues, one member of ourAsian Youth Advocates took a pic-ture of mold on the wall next to herbed. After painting it over and over,the mold would eventually reappearwith ongoing neglect by her landlord.

Land use and zoning issues

Gentrification in neighborhoodswhere poor communities of colorreside have resulted in the displace-ment of long-standing residents andhave broken generations of commu-nity ties. The appearance ofStarbucks in New York’s Harlem ordance clubs that bring residents fromall over the SF Bay Area into SanFrancisco’s primarily Latino Missiondistrict have signaled larger efforts tochange the character of neighbor-hoods. In most cases, rent and homeprices have risen, causing long-timeresidents to move to outside areas.At the heart of this are land-use poli-cies that do not support and safeguard

affordable housing, as well as otherdecisions and policies that do notinvolve residents in community plan-ning. One key environmental justiceprinciple is that communities must“speak for ourselves” and that com-munities most impacted by problemsneed to be in the decision-makingleadership.

Related environmental justiceimplications

Housing issues are intricatelyconnected to and compound other EJcommunity issues. For example, in1998, APEN conducted a seafoodconsumption survey that warnedLaotian community residents of thedangers of subsistence fishing fromthe polluted Bay Area waters. In thepast two years, residents have turnedback to subsistence fishing to supple-ment their income, having to spendoftentimes over half of their incomeon housing. Homes are overcrowdedwith multiple family members whohave no other place to live, and fish-ing is one of the few ways to eat and

survive. Another example is the cre-ation of zoning policies and the lackof coordinated urban planning poli-cies that results in available jobs thatare very far from where people canafford to live. Because the SF BayArea does not have a comprehensive,affordable regional transportation sys-tem, many are forced to drive longdistances, increasing traffic conges-tion and auto pollution.

With over 1 million new peopleexpected in the Bay Area by the year2020, housing issues will continue totear away at the fabric and quality oflife in our communities. Althoughthe dot-com bust has shown somesigns of relief in the housing crunch,the overall trend continues againstthe health and well-being of sustain-able communities. We at APEN willkeep you posted on our importantwork and the work of our allies onthis environmental justice issuewhen we launch our housing cam-paign in early 2003!