Making contacts in Los Angeles

While we were in LA recently, we made a point to reach out to some local contacts and organizations.

We met with Mobin Khan, a Hindi-speaking NLSC Member. He informed us that there are large Hindi-speaking populations in Chicago, Philadelphia, and New Jersey, so we should look into Indian community events in those places. He added that he would let us know when he hears about any upcoming Hindi festivals. He mentioned that it would be great to have some Hindi-speaking NLSC Members at those events. So thanks to everyone we met!

We also met with Susan Choi, the Program Manager for PALS for Health, an organization that provides interpreters for healthcare patients with limited English skills. After we explained the NLSC’s mission and objectives, she offered to assist us in a number of ways, including 

• posting a blurb about the NLSC on the PALS for Health website


• publishing an article about the NLSC in the newsletter for the California Healthcare Interpreting Association (CHIA) and posting a listing on the CHIA jobs website inviting members to apply


• sending our recruitment email and/or e-brochures to the PALS for Health listserv


• distributing our Mandarin, Russian, Vietnamese, Thai, and Indonesian print brochures at the various events that she attends


• sending us contacts for other groups that she believes would be willing and able to assist us in our recruitment efforts

Next we met with the board of the South Bay Vietnamese Cultural Center (SBVCC), who were very interested in our cause. They provided some great leads for marketing and outreach, such as the local Vietnamese radio and TV stations that broadcast to the Southern California Vietnamese community. They also recommended that we contact the Union of Vietnamese Student Associations of Southern California (UVSA). It turns out the UVSA has a big annual event that we just missed this year, but the NLSC should definitely look into attending next year.

In addition to giving us leads, the SBVCC board offered to email their listserv on our behalf, and we provided them with a large amount of our Vietnamese print brochures, which they plan to mail to their members and hand out at their church. We also met with Hamid Khan, Executive Director, and Ranjeeta Chhetry of South Asian Network (SAN). This meeting was very important because we learned about the challenges that we may face in working with some community/non-profit organizations. SAN does a lot of work promoting basic rights (immigration, public health, violence prevention, hate crime / discrimination and civil liberties) for the Indian community in the LA area. Ms. Chhetry said that she would be happy to distribute our Hindi-language brochures at a Town Hall event being held on April 15th. They also provided the names of a couple of newspapers that reach the Southern California Hindi Community (India Journal and India Post).