HUD Region IV Participates in First Interagency Community Roundtable for Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in Atlanta

Region IV White House Asian American Pacific Islander Housing and Education breakout session

Recently, HUD Region IV participated in the Region IV White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI) Interagency Working Group (IWG) in the first community roundtable for over 75 Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community leaders in the City of Atlanta. Georgia. The purpose of the roundtable was to bring federal agencies together with the local Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community to provide information about essential programs and to listen to the concerns of the community as well. The meeting was co-hosted by the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI) and the Center for Pan Asian Community Services (CPACS [www.icpacs.org/]).

"It was wonderful to see community members and leaders, community organizations, partners and federal agencies come together, to learn about and discuss strategies for addressing the needs of the AAPI community. Importantly, the Region IV IWG was committed to moving beyond words to action, and also hosted an AAPI Affordable Care Act Enrollment Summit immediately after the AAPI Community Roundtable," said Dr. Renard L. Murray, co-chair of the WHIAAPI Regional Interagency Working Group and the Regional Administrator for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for the Atlanta and Dallas Regional Offices.

During the AAPI Community Roundtable plenary session the history of the AAPI community in the South was presented and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS [www.uscis.gov/]) District Director Denise Frazier addressed immigration and the AAPI community to include important information about assistance programs. After the plenary session, the attendees were invited to attend one of four issue-based discussions.

These issues included Health and Human Services, Housing and Education, Employment and Small Business, and Emergency Preparedness and Civic Engagement. Representatives from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Education, Small Business Administration, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, General Services Administration, Social Security Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Department of Justice led these breakout sessions.

Joseph Phillips, HUD Region IV Public Affairs Specialist and Dan Ellis, HUD Georgia Chief, Education and Outreach Branch, Program Support Division, Atlanta Homeownership Center represented HUD in the Housing portion of the Housing and Education breakout session.

The Region IV White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI) Interagency Working Group (IWG) will be working over the summer to review the results of the roundtable to develop an actionable plan going forward.

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