(NAME-MCE) Asian Counseling and Referral Service 8-6-08 Seattle WA

[Anselmo Villanueva]

Asian Counseling and Referral Service

Grand opening  August 6, 2008  3:00-6:00 p.m.   Information:  www.acrs.org

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Aug. 2, 2008  nwasianweekly.com

http://www.nwasianweekly.com/2008270032/acrs20082732.htm

Asian American nonprofit prepares for grand opening

By Eleanor Lee

Northwest Asian Weekly

In this economic climate, nonprofits are finding it increasingly
difficult to raise funds, yet Asian Counseling and Referral Service
managed a very successful capital campaign. In fact, they have
exceeded their goal of $19.1 million, though the fundraising campaign
continues in order to decrease the mortgage and funnel as much funds
into direct services as possible.

Capital Campaign Director Elisa Del Rosario attributes their success
to the organization's multicultural and multi-service model. ACRS
provides a variety of human and behavioral health programs, serving
the Asian Pacific American population. It is the largest multi-service
organization in the area, serving all the different Asian communities.
The staff of ACRS speak 30 different languages and dialects and serve
clients as young as preschoolers to seniors in their 90s. Along with
more than 500 volunteers, they serve 23,000 clients a year.

Though they primarily assist clients from King County, Del Rosario
said they have clients coming in from as far south as Vancouver,
Wash., and as far north as Bellingham. One client even drives in from
Spokane. The strength of their programs seems to be the strength of
their fundraising. All Asian communities are served and where there is
a particular interest or need, ACRS will probably address it, she
said.

"Those who haven't needed our services don't know of us," she
explained. "But if they're fortunate enough to not have needed our
services, we hope they can relate to the immigrant experience and give
back to the community. ... Everyone has parents, grandparents who have
made sacrifices."

Del Rosario also pointed out that donors have been especially kind.
Several capital campaigns were going on at the same time in the Asian
community, she noted, including the Wing Luke Asian Museum and the
Filipino Community Center's. Yet, they all met or are close to meeting
their goals, which "speaks to the generosity of our community," she
said.

Diane Narasaki, executive director, added, "We are so deeply grateful
to everyone in our community, our donors and government at all levels
for making our dream of a beautiful and healing gathering place for
our community, full of energy, compassion and a commitment to social
justice, come true."

One aspect of the campaign has been granting naming rights to various
areas of the new building. There's the Yale Wong computer lab, named
after the entrepreneur and philanthropist who gave ACRS its first ever
$100,000 donation. There's also the Herb and Bertha Tsuchiya Garden
and the Thomas Pak fountain, which graces the main entrance.

The ACRS staff also were generous and confident in their own
organization — they gave more than $100,000 of their own money to the
campaign. "They're proud to be a building that's beautiful and
welcoming," Del Rosario said. "We wanted this place to be like a
second home."

With that in mind, the building was designed to look and function more
like a community center than a sterile clinic. At 82,000 total square
feet (61,000 for programs and offices and 21,000 for the underground
parking structure), the building is three times as big as the old
space. It is now located at 3639 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S. in
Rainier Valley.

The primary reason ACRS moved south, Del Rosario said, is because it
found that its client base was increasingly shifting south. Rainier
Valley is now 50 percent Asian Pacific American, according to Del
Rosario.

It was "all about increasing access," said Del Rosario. The new site
will have the light rail tracks running directly in front, a Metro bus
stop on the corner and 150 parking spaces (Del Rosario recalled how
impossible parking would be at their old site in the International
District on days a game was held at Safeco and Qwest fields).

Though all that space seems like a luxury, it's been a long time
coming. The staff of ACRS found they needed more room almost as soon
as they moved into their space at the ID Square Village in 1998. "We
were converting conference rooms into work stations," Del Rosario
said.

It wasn't until 2002 that a formal decision to expand was made,
however, when the board began strategic planning to address how to
best keep up with their growing clientele, resulting in the current
location.

As Del Rosario conducted a tour of the building, the list of resources
ACRS is now able to provide seemed countless. The list includes a
computer lab, multiple comfortable counseling rooms complete with
sofas and coffee tables, a gym that can be converted into a banquet
hall, a commercial kitchen, a staff lounge, a space dedicated to the
youth center and a garden.

DKA architects made special efforts to incorporate Asian design
elements in the building, such as the bamboo-glazed glass adorning the
reception desk. They were careful to select aesthetics common to all
Asian cultures, rather than drawing from a few dominant ones.

Client art is mostly used to decorate the new building. A few
professional and well-known Asian American artists have also donated
works, including Mayumi Tsutakawa, who donated historical posters, and
Johsel Namkung, a Korean American photographer who donated a print of
Lake Julia, a tranquil scene that hangs overlooking the "quiet lobby"
on the second floor.

Martha Dingus and Romson Bustillo are conducting art workshops with
clients and the community in order to construct a community quilt that
will eventually hang through all three stories.

The main lobby is named after Uncle Bob Santos, not only for his
lifelong contributions to the Asian American community, but also
specifically because he lent ACRS its first space inside of InterIm in
the 1970s.

The staff moved in to the current location mid-June, closing the old
space June 13 and reopening for business in their new space June 18.
The grand opening, however, was planned for almost two months later in
order to "work out all the bugs," Del Rosario said.

"We wanted to make sure the toilets flushed!" she laughed. A week
before the opening, there is still last-minute construction, but
everything appears to be right on schedule for the festivities ACRS
has planned.

After the "regular activities," as Del Rosario dubs the ribbon-cutting
and speech-making, the real fun will begin, with all manner of
cultural performances — everything from Hmong martial arts and a
Samoan hula lesson to a Filipino youth choir and a blessing by Laotian
monks.

The program augurs to be all-inclusive, inspiring, nurturing and
celebratory — very much in keeping with the mission of ACRS and the
ethos of its new building.

The food bank is still in the same location in the International
District. The grand opening of ACRS' new site is Aug. 6, 3-6 p.m. For
more information, visit www.acrs.org.

Eleanor Lee can be reached at info at nwasianweekly.com.