30 Years of History

Lao Family Time LineOn June 22, 2010, Lao Family Community Development, Inc. celebrates its 30^th Anniversary with a Festival that features free International food, cultural performances, Community Resource Fair, and children’s activities at the Cesar Chavez Education Center at 2825 International Blvd.  Keynote speaker Eskinder Negash, the Director of the US Office of Refugee Resettlement at the Department of Health and Human Services will join a long list of distinguished speakers.  Click here for more details about the event.

THE EARLY DAYS

Lao Family was founded in Richmond, CA when a small group of Tribal refugee families who gathered in a 3 bedroom apartment to lend each other support as they made the difficult adjustment to life in the United States.  They were escaping the ravages of war, political oppression and human rights abuses that were rampant at that time because their people had helped the United States fight against the communists during the Vietnam War.  From 1975 to 1980, they were granted resident refugee status by the United States Government because of this assistance.

Co-founder Mr. Chaosarn S. Chao’s family was the third refugee family from Laos to arrive in the Bay Area and remembers those first hard months:  “Every day 2, 3 even 5 flights a day full of refugees arrived at the San Francisco airport and Travis Airforce Base.  Very few people spoke English.  Some of the people coming were small children or seniors who were sick.  Even though we were barely getting by ourselves, we saw the ongoing need, and organized to help each other.”

The group grew with new families joining the meetings each week.  They pooled their money and rented an office in 1980 and bought a $5 telephone and a $25 typewriter at the Alameda flea market and volunteered their services until they received their first grant.  Most of the activities in the early days included teaching refugees English, helping people find jobs and affordable housing, and coordinating with the local police to prevent crimes against the new population.  Some of the needs were a little more unusual.  In 1983 14 refugees were rushed to the hospital after eating poisoned mushrooms they’d gathered for food.  Later, the organization had to teach their community not to eat raw bear meat they hunted in the manner they had back home because several people had contracted a paralyzing illness.

EXPANDING, DIVERSIFYING, INCREASING IMPACT

Where some of our clients come fromLao Family has come a long way from those early days.  With a staff of 50 people and a budget of over $3 million, Lao Family is now a diverse and well-established “One-Stop” social service agency that provides comprehensive services to 15,000 people a year and estimates that it has served over 245,000 clients in the past 30 years.  With offices in Alameda, Contra Costa, and Sacramento Counties, Lao Family has followed the community and expanded to meet the needs of new refugee groups and other populations as the needs arises, including Hmong, Vietnamese and Cambodians in the1980’s; Afghanis, Russians, Ukrainians and Bosnians in the 1990’s; Latino Immigrants and African Americans and African refugees in the early 2000’s; and the new arrival of Burmese, Bhutanese and Nepali refugees today.  Today Lao Family’s clients come from over 30 countries and five continents.  Its staff serves these clients with native fluency in 28 languages, including: English, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Chaozhouese, French, Arabic, Chin, Lai, Mizo, Falam, Lao, Mien, Spanish, Burmese, Karen, Karenni, Vietnamese, Nepalese, Bhutanese, Fiji, Thai, Hindi, Hmong, Khmer, Russian, Armenian, and Ukrainian.

Lao Family’s focuses its strategies and activities on asset building at every level, from the individual client, their family, the local community, or at a state or national advocacy level. 

Examples of ways Lao Family helps its clients join the mainstream economy and society include:

• Helping immigrants and refugees learn English so they are more employable and can support themselves and their families;
• Help welfare recipients, unemployed and laid-off workers train, search and apply for gainful employment, especially in difficult economic times;
• Teaching low-income families about good financial management practices and how to avoid predatory lenders and foreclosure scams, and helping them file their income taxes;
• Reporting predatory lenders to the Department of Justice;
• Help individuals with their savings so they can get an education, start a small business, or buy their first home;
• Help low-income and immigrant/refugee youth avoid ganges, graduate from high school,  and pursue college education and a career;
• Help families who qualify apply for discounted or low-cost health insurance;
• Teach citizenship classes, assist with the naturalization process, and register voters

Lao Family’s services are funded through federal (including ARRA funds), state, and local government contracts and grants, foundation support, individual donors and earned income. 

Lao Family invites the entire community to join them in celebrating 30 years of building healthy communities by helping families and individuals achieve self-sufficiency.