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A&PI Wellness Center Announces
Queer Asian and Pacific Islander Youth Scholarship Recipients
in Event Tonight at LGBT Community Center
(San Francisco, August 28 2003)
Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center (A&PI Wellness
Center) tonight announced the winners of its annual Pride
Scholarships. A&PI Wellness Center board members and staff,
along with A&PI community leaders, scholarship recipients,
and their families, attended tonight’s event held at
the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender
Community Center.
Ten Bay Area youth have been selected to receive a total
of $16,000 in Pride Scholarships. Attending in person to receive
their awards were Ravinder Singh Rangi, who will be entering
a program for a Master’s in Social Work degree; Catrina
Roallos, who is attending City College of San Francisco; Ty
Lim, who is attending UC Berkeley; Poj Gavinlertvatana, who
is also attending UC Berkeley; Chris Tipton-King, a third
UC Berkeley student; and Jasmin Limos, a San Francisco State
student. Recipients are A&PI Bay Area residents 22 years
of age or younger who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, queer, or questioning and, in their applications,
expressed a need for money to pay for education.
“The goal in awarding Pride Scholarships is to help
eradicate the isolation, invisibility, homophobia and heterosexism
faced by thousands of A&PI queer and questioning youth
in the Bay Area and beyond,” said John Manzon-Santos,
executive director of A&PI Wellness Center, who presided
over the evening’s festivities. “Proudly supporting
these scholarship recipients also sends a powerful and affirming
message to people of all ages and races, straight and queer,
family, supporters, and even to those other individuals who
have not yet come to honor and respect the work that these
young people have done.”
The Queer Asian & Pacific Islander Pride Scholarship
was launched in 2000 by A&PI Wellness Center, in partnership
with the Scholarship’s visionary founder, Edward Cheng
Ming Tang, Peninsula Community Foundation, community activists,
and queer A&PI youth. A selection committee including
A&PI lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning
youth and adults reviewed applications and selected scholarship
recipients. Committee members were chosen for their diversity
in backgrounds and life experiences. Factors considered in
scholarship awards include financial need, personal and societal
challenges, creativity and originality, community involvement.
A&PI Wellness Center has two youth programs, AQU25A and
HOPE. AQU25A (Asian and Pacific Islander Queer and Questioning,
25 and Under All Together) is a group about and run by young
queer and questioning Asians and Pacific Islanders who are
aged 25 years and under. The group serves as a safe space
for young people to hang out, and holds picnics, socials,
parties, dances, retreats and other fun activities throughout
the year. HOPE (Helping and Outreaching to Peers Everywhere)
is a program for young A&PIs who are currently involved
in or at risk for becoming involved in the juvenile justice
system. Services are available in clients' homes, clinics,
Juvenile Hall, and outreach settings where clients congregate.
Skills building workshops focus on issues of sexual health,
juvenile justice system, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, safe
sex, drug use, relationships, culture, and family dynamics.
A&PI Wellness Center’s mission is to educate, support,
empower, and advocate for Asian and Pacific Islander (A&PI)
communities — particularly A&PIs living with or
at-risk for HIV/AIDS. A&PI Wellness Center is the oldest
non-profit HIV/AIDS services organization in North America
targeting A&PI communities. To meet the needs of its clients
who are often immigrants or refugees, A&PI Wellness Center’s
staff speaks 20 languages: English, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin,
Japanese, Vietnamese, Lao, Thai, Burmese, Tagalog, Ilongo,
Visayan, Ilokano, Kinaray-a, Hindi, Urdu, Gujrati, Farsi,
Hawaiian, and Samoan.
For more information contact:
Lance Toma
A&PI Wellness Center
415.292.3420 x355
lance@apiwellness.org
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