TAAF Cities NYC Launches: Read How We’re Creating Place-Based Change

Dear Friends,

This month marked a painful anniversary for our community, as we remembered and honored the lives of the victims of the Atlanta Spa Shootings who died five years ago on March 16. This tragic event was one of the driving forces behind the founding of TAAF. It sharpened our resolve to fight anti-Asian hate and address the urgent needs of those in our community. With each anniversary, we recommit to our mission of building toward a future where AAPIs are safe, thriving, and feel they belong.

As part of that mission we have launched TAAF Cities, an initiative that supports the richly diverse and historic AAPI neighborhoods in cities where community members have felt unsafe, or opportunity may have been just out of reach. Read on to hear what we’re doing in New York City to support small business owners, and catch up on our ongoing safety work in Seattle on the blog.

In Solidarity,

Norman Chen

CEO, The Asian American Foundation

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TAAF NEWS

TAAF Cities: New York City Launches

Last year in Seattle, we piloted TAAF Cities, an initiative to bring place-based change to cities with large Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) populations. TAAF Cities leverages cross-sector partnerships and strategic investments to promote safety, belonging, and prosperity for AAPI communities. This month we announced the launch of TAAF Cities: New York City. Through a new $5.5 million initiative, TAAF—along with the Social Justice Fund, Renaissance Economic Development Corporation, and the State of New York—will support small business growth across the five boroughs through the NYC Elevating Business Loan Program.

For AAPI small business owners in NYC, access to the capital needed to maintain or expand their operations is challenging due to complicated application processes, high borrowing costs, language barriers, and limited awareness of available funding sources. The NYC Elevating Business Loan Program will offer loans of up to $100,000, which small business owners can use to manage cash flow, buy equipment, improve storefronts, and more. Assistance will be available in English, Chinese, Korean, and Spanish, and applicants will also benefit from no-cost business counseling, financial analysis, and digital consulting.

Led by an initial investment of $1 million from the Social Justice Fund and $500,000 from TAAF, the fund catalyzed an additional $4 million in lending capital through Empire State Development, New York’s chief economic development agency.

Businesses in the five boroughs of NYC are eligible to apply, and those based in Brooklyn will be eligible for affordable capital thanks to the Social Justice Fund’s investment in the program, reflecting its longstanding commitment to supporting entrepreneurs in Brooklyn and across the city.

The program will be operated by Renaissance, a U.S. Treasury-certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and affiliate of Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE), which has supported under-resourced entrepreneurs since 1997.

To learn more about the program and for information on applying, you can visit TAAF Cities: New York City. This initiative is also made possible through the generous commitment of TAAF's partners at Cummins Inc. and Morgan Stanley.

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IMPACT UPDATE

TAAF's Safety National Network

TAAF was founded five years ago in response to the rise in anti-Asian hate during the pandemic. As we saw our communities impacted across the country, we set out to grow a national network of organizations to confront hate and violence, support survivors, and build lasting safety for the AAPI community. Over these past five years, TAAF and our partners have:

• deployed $23 million in grants to organizations on the frontlines
• served nearly 100,000 community members
• trained more than 121,000 people to promote safety in their neighborhoods through the Safety National Network

Today, the network reaches over fourteen cities and a growing share of the AAPI population. By bringing organizations together, the Safety National Network has enabled sharing of ideas, solutions, and information:

“Collaboration is key in breaking the cycle of hate against vulnerable populations. When communities exchange ideas, resources, and strategies, that's where the foundation change or progress is built.”

-2024 Safety National Network Convening attendee

Working together, we can address pressing safety issues, deepen cross-sector partnerships, and find effective solutions to better serve the AAPI community.

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ON THE BLOG

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In case you missed it, these are the stories we featured this month on our blog, The Takeaway.

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Make an Impact

Did you know that AAPI communities receive only 0.3% of philanthropic giving from foundations and less than 1% of corporate giving?

When you make a gift to TAAF, 100% of your donation goes toward strengthening groundbreaking programs, essential research, and cross-sector partnerships to address our community's most persistent challenges. Donate today to increase Safety, Prosperity and Belonging for the AAPI community. You can also leverage your corporate matching program to double your impact.

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