Queens, NY – Assemblywoman Nily Rozic (D,WF-Fresh Meadows) visited the Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE) Flushing Community Center last week to see firsthand the programs funded by a $50,000 state grant she secured for the community based organization. The grant was split into servicing two different needs at the Flushing Center – youth and new immigrants. High school students benefit from college and career readiness programs as well as civic and volunteer opportunities aimed at developing leadership skills to help bolster college applications and expose students to character-building experiences. The Youth Program funding also provides social workers for counseling and mental health services for teenagers. The Immigration Program hosts “Know Your Rights” workshops, college application help for new immigrants, naturalization preparations services, and overall counseling in multiple languages.

“We need community centers like AAFE and its continued programming that provide mental, social, and culturally competent support uplifting and guiding the underserved of all ages,” said Assemblywoman Nily Rozic. “I am proud to have allocated this state grant filling in a funding gap that might not otherwise be possible and widening AAFE’s reach with additional services like mental health counseling services for teens and helping immigrants get citizenship counseling. This is why I fight to ensure that hard-earned tax dollars are returned right back here to our communities.”

“The state funding from Assemblywoman Rozic has helped AAFE extend its impact and capacity throughout northern Queens,” said Thomas Yu, Executive Director of Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE). “At a time in which both our programs enabling immigrant youth to become the first members of their families to attend college and community members to achieve the dream of American citizenship have experienced unprecedented growth, this support has made a crucial difference. We are grateful to Assemblywoman Rozic for our longtime partnership and for her steadfast dedication to community services.”

Asian Americans for Equality serves diverse multiethnic and multilingual communities from Flushing and Jackson Heights in Queens to Chinatown and the Lower East Side in Manhattan. AAFE advances racial, social, and economic justice for Asian Americans and other systemically disadvantaged communities by creating affordable housing and economic opportunities, fostering grassroots leadership and civic engagement, and providing an array of many other community services accessible in English, multiple dialects of Chinese, and Spanish.

AAFE served over 1,600 constituents of Assembly District 25 (AD25) last year and disbursed over $4 million in small business and home buying loans collectively for AD25. The Flushing office is located on 41st Avenue and 133rd Street and is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Additional community investments recently announced by Rozic include a $175,000 grant to P4Q@179 in Fresh Meadows for the renovation of the school’s auditorium, $320,000 to M.S.74 in Oakland Gardens to upgrade the school’s Public Announcement system, $250,000 to P.S. 213 in Bayside for a brand new student library and $50,000 for senior wellness programming at the Selfhelp NORC in Fresh Meadows.