HomeMy Public PortalAboutIntegration of the growing Chinese American community in Watertown - CAAWCity of Watertown, MA
ARPA Project Proposal
Submitted by: Qibin Ye
Submitted on: May 22, 2023
Request Number: ARPA-6
Project Name: Integration of the growing Chinese American community in Watertown
Proposal Type: Organization
Chinese American Association of Watertown (CAAW)
Recommended Project Manager: Qibin Ye
Project Summary:
Most of nearby towns/ci es have their own Chinese American Associa on to help integra on and understanding of the culture. As Watertown ishaving an increasing popula on of Chinese Americans, it is becoming more and more important for us to have our own associa on to bridge theculture gap.
With this funding, we have the detailed plan to set up this associa on, and have the funding to operate and organize some ac vi es which are
open to all Watertown residents. Those proposed ac vi es includes: 1, ini ate a reoccurring Chinese reading and wri ng class; 2, host the mid-autumn and Lunar New Year fes val in our city; 3, sponsor a dragon boat team under the name of Watertown; 4, reach out to residents in needof help.
This proposal is for a long term goal. We would like to host more events in the future and make this into part of the culture of Watertown. Andthis funding will be very helpful to get this journey going for the first few years un l Dec 2026.
Amount of ARPA Funds Requested: $13,000
Minimum Funds Needed: $10,000
Matching funds available? No
Other funds available? Yes
Donation and sponsorship from local business
1,000
Highly Likely
Project Narrative: I have a detailed narrative to upload
Information the Committee would like to receive is:
1. Applicant name
Chinese American Association of Watertown (CAAW)
2. Contact person (if applicant is an organization)
Qibin Ye
3. Contact email address
Ye.ace85@gmail.com
4. Contact phone number
4013390972
5. Project name
Integration of the growing Chinese American community in Watertown
6. Amount of ARPA funds requested to run the project
$13000
7. Matching funds available for the project from other sources:
a. Source of funds
b. Amount
c. Are funds guaranteed or if not, likelihood
8. Other sources of funds that could be used for the project other than ARPA funds:
a. Source of funds
Donation and sponsorship from local business
b. Amount
$1000
c. Are funds guaranteed or if not, likelihood
Most like we can get some donation and sponsors from local business.
For example, if we can have our own Watertown Co-op dragon boat team next
year, we can ask local restaurants to sponsor the meals for the dragon boat paddlers
and supporting stuff (30+ ppl) on the race day. And can ask some local business’
sponsor for the team T-shirts.
Another example is Asian new year celebration. It’s likely that we can get some
donation and/or sponsors for the event as well.
9. Minimum funds needed to make the project worth doing
$10000
10. Recommended project manager (i.e. City department, non-profit entity. Note
that
if a non-profit entity is proposed as project manager, they should submit the
proposal.)
Qibin Ye, Wanlu Qu and Jingxuan Zhao
11. A narrative description of the project. This can vary from a simple description of
an idea being recommended by a resident, to a proposal being submitted by a
department or other entity. If possible it should include:
a. A detailed budget
b. A timeline for the project: encumbrance of funds by December 31, 2024,
how soon can it start, key milestones, how long will it take to execute,
and expenditures of funds complete by December 31, 2026
c. Any resources required in addition to the ARPA funding
d. Metrics for success of the project
e. Outputs / outcomes
f. What will be the overall benefit (financial or otherwise) to Watertown
residents
g. How the project meets the City’s ARPA proposal criteria (to be published
on the city webpage)
Most of nearby towns/cities have their own Chinese American Association to help
integration and understanding of the culture. As Watertown is having an increasing
population of Chinese Americans, it is becoming more and more important for us to
have our own association to bridge the culture gap. Especially, due to COVID, the
hatred or hostility against Asian especially Chinese has increased significantly. As a
growing community in Watertown, the goal of this proposal is to form a non-profit
organization works to increase the understanding of Chinese culture in the
community and create opportunities for Chinese community to get more involved
with our town.
First item in the agenda is to set up the non-profit organization. We have a few
residents from our city has been actively involved to initiate this. We have designed
the association logo and had an informal gathering in April this year. And we are in
the progress to set up this association as non-profit organization. Estimated cost for
this would be a total amount of $3500. With this, we target to register this
association this year in 2023.
Second item in the agenda is to initiate a reoccurring Chinese reading and writing
class open to public starting this year. We can book the room in Watertown Free
Public Library. It could be monthly event first, pending on the popularity, could
possible increase to bi-weekly or even weekly. We can recruit some Watertown
residents to volunteer for this event. Possible material cost is estimated around $250
a year. This can be started from this year, and we propose a budget of total $1000 to
cover the first 4 years (including 2023) until Dec. 2026. This could be a start of
Watertown’s non-profit after school program to kids or adults to learn Chinese if
there are a lot of interest from the residents, as a few near by city/town have done
so, such as Newton and Lexington.
Third item in the agenda is to host the mid-autumn and Lunar New Year festival in
our city this year and every year in the future. Both dates are important in Asian
culture. And many Asian countries celebrates this together. So this would be a good
time for all people from all culture background to come together for the celebration.
The celebration of Mid-Autumn day would be a good outdoor event for the beautiful
New England fall season. And Lunar new year would be a good time for a winter
group activity. We could recruit some Watertown residents to volunteer for these
events too. Possible material cost is estimated around $500 a year, it can also start
from this year, and we propose a budget of $2000 to cover the first 4 years (including
2023) until Dec. 2026.
The fourth item in the agenda is to sponsor a dragon boat team under the name of
Watertown and train the race day paddlers and some back-up paddlers. Dragon Boat
Festival is celebrated in many countries on the fifth day of the fifth month of the
lunar calendar. The tradition began about 2,000 years ago when Yuan drowned
himself as an act of protest. Boston was the first North American city to hold a
Dragon Boat Festival, and it is the largest such event in New England. Luckily, Boston
has a famous annual dragon boat race every year on Charles River since 1979. It is
the largest water festival of its kind in this area. And has over 70 teams racing from
various organizations and communities. As a major city along the Charles River, it
would be great if we could have a team to participate the event. For this race, each
boat has 20 paddlers to row the 500-meter course. We plan to have a co-op team
from the city, females and males, and also recruit some interested paddlers from
teachers in Watertown schools, Fire department, police department, city staff
members and etc. The organizer of the Boston Dragon Boat Festival sets up tent area
for each teams. So we plan to ask for sponsor from local restaurants to provide
meals for paddlers, supporting staff and provide snacks and beverage for all
Watertown residents, friends and family who would like to stop by and support. The
cost to sponsor a race in 2023 is $1500 for a community team. And we would
estimate a similar cost in the future as well. The target of this agenda is to have our
own dragon boat team starting from 2024, and we propose a budget of $4500 to
sponsor the first 3 years until Dec 2026.
Last but not the least, as an community organization, we plan to reach out to as
many residents as possible, especially the Chinese American in Watertown. We
would provide community help to those in difficult time or have difficulty
communicating, commuting or achieving certain tasks. And this would be mostly
volunteer based, with a budget of $500 to buy daily essential for elders or people
with disabilities who live by themselves. It can also start from this year, and we
propose a budget of $2000 cover the first 4 years (including 2023) until Dec 2026.
All in all, this is a start of new journey for the Chinese American community in
Watertown. As current social environment has more and more tension, it would help
to mitigate the difference and help to bring the people from different culture closer.
And important to mention that, all of the activities are open to all Watertown
residents, not just limited Asians.
This proposal is for a long term goal. We would like to host more events in the future
and make this into part of the culture of Watertown. And this funding will be very
helpful to let this journey start going for the first few years until Dec 2026.