GOPIO AMERICA Cordially invites you to day-long conference on
PROVIDING SOCIAL SERVICES TO THE INDIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY IN THE NEW YORK METRO AREA - AN EVALUATION AND FUTURE ACTION
Sunday, May 21th starting at 9.00 a.m.
Place: Indian American Kerala Cultural and Civic Center, 1824 Fairfax St., Elmont, NY, Tel: 516/358-2000. Those who need a ride to the center, please call Kerala Center. (Direction: From Cross Island Parkway, take exit 26B Hempstead Turnpike East, at 7th traffic light including a blinking light (after the second Mobile Gas Station) take right at School Rd., econd left is Fairfax St. Park your car on the street or in the Kerala Center parking lot).
The Indian American community in the tri-state New York area has a population of about 500,000 people. It is a composite group with older immigrants from 1960s to the recently arrived and the second and third generation citizens of Indian origin. Adding Indo-Caribbeans, the PIO community will swell to 700,000 people in the tr-state area. As the community grows, the need for social services also increases. Many language-based organizations and religious groups (temples, churches, gurudwaras and mosques) have some services to their members. Certain groups have been providing services to women who needed help. Another group has been providing service to those addicted with alcohol and drugs. However, as an Indian American community set up, we have been able to provide only limited services. We have not reached to the level of other ethnic groups who have been providing services to their communities.
The purpose of this day-long conference is to make an evaluation of currently available services, identify gaps and develop a strategy to provided needed services to the community.
SPONSORED BY : News India Times
COSPONSORED BY: Indian American Kerala Cultural and Civic Center ; Indian Social Workers Association ; National Indian American Association for Senior Citizens ; Network of Indian Professionals (NetIP), New York
We want people with ideas to develop these programs and volunteers who could provide these services. There is no registration fee. However, donations are accepted from individuals and organizations to defray the hall rental, lunch and coffee. All donors will be listed in the program sheet. Please send in your donation to GOPIO, c/o Sudha Acharya, 8653 Midland Parkway, Jamaica Estates, NY 11432.
For registration and more information please call Sudha Acharya, 718/523-7668, Thomas Kaippakaseril 516/437-4171, E.M. Stephen 516/358-2000, Manik Jassal 917/562-7112, Rajeshwar Prasad 631/698-0512, Dr. Thomas Abraham 203/329-8010, Dr. Jagat Motwani 516/735-9605, Dr. Sushila Gidwani 914/693-4219 or Jaswant Mody 732/968-0867 or send e-mail to jagatmotwani@yahoo.com. Visit our website: www.gopio.net for conference updates and upcoming GOPIO CONVENTION 2000, Zurich, Switzerland, July 21-23.
PROGRAM
| 9.00 a.m. | Coffee and muffin |
| 9.30 a.m. to 9.35 a.m. |
Welcome and Conference Overview Speaker: Dr. Thomas Abraham, President, GOPIO |
| 9.35 a.m. - 10.30 a.m. |
Opening Session: Overview on Delivering Social Services to Communities Moderator: Sudha Acharya, GOPIO and All India Women Conference Speakers: Alexandra Rosa, Chief of Staff for Queens Borough ; President Prof. Roger Sanjek, Queens College (invited)
|
| 10.30 a.m. - 11.30 a.m. |
Presentation by Indian Community Service Providers Moderator: Mr. Thomas Kaippakaseril, President, Indian Social Workers Speakers: Shamita Das Dasgupta, President, Manavi Roy Tellis, Executive Director, Navnirman (invited) Sayu Bhojwani, Exec. Director, South Asian Youth Action (SAYA) |
| 11.30 a.m. to 11.45 a.m. | Coffee Break |
| 11.45 a.m. - 12.45 p.m. |
Sharing Experience - Presentations by Other Community Groups Moderator: Dr. Munish Khaneja, NetIP and Down State Medical Center Speakers: Christopher Kui, Executive Director, Asian Americans For Equality ; William Rapfogel, Exec. Director, Metro NY Coordinating Council on Jewish; O.Lewis Harris, Executive Director, Forest Hills Community |
| 12.45 p.m. to 1.45 p.m. | Lunch |
| 1.45 p.m. to 2.30 p.m. |
Identification of Gaps in Services Moderator: Mr. Manik Jassal, President, NetIP, New York Speakers: Vanitha Venugopal, Director of Housing, Office of the Queens Borough; President Geetha Bhat, Intensive Care Manager, OMH, New York State |
| 2.30 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. |
Breakout Sessions Session I Family Counseling and Related Services Session II Youth Counseling and Activities Session III Service to the Elderly |
| 3.45 p.m. to 4.45 p.m. |
Reports from the Sessions and Building Strategies for Providing Services Moderator: Dr. Thomas Abraham, President, GOPIO Presenters: Sudha Acharya, Dr. Munish Khaneja, Thomas Kaippakaseril, Manik Jassal and Rapporteurs from Breakout sessions Concluding Remarks: Dr. Jagat Motwani, Secretary General, GOPIO |