Abstract
Despite the increasing provision of social and financial services by community-based organizations (CBOs), few studies focus on the roles that Asian American-serving CBOs play in helping their economically and culturally diverse communities accumulate wealth. The authors explore this overlooked sector by interviewing key informants in 30 mostly Asian American asset-building organizations nationwide. Participating CBOs respond to the financial needs of their diverse communities primarily in three ways: (a) adapting programs for the underserved, (b) facilitating access to the mainstream, and (c) preserving existing assets. Unlike mainstream banks, they use a comprehensive asset-building framework premised on extensive technical assistance and culturally congruent programming. The interviewed organizations face a variety of challenges in implementing programs-namely, maintaining financial solvency and working with limited capacity-issues that they struggle to overcome through forming collaborations and partnerships, earned income strategies, obtaining certification, and cross-training.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 288-303 |
Number of pages | 16 |
Journal | Economic Development Quarterly |
Volume | 24 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2010 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Asian Americans
- Asset building
- Community-based organizations
- Financial education
- Immigrants
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Development
- Economics and Econometrics
- Urban Studies