Community-based nonprofits serving ethnic populations in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area

Ethnic Concentration and Nonprofit Organizations: The Political and Urban Geography of Immigrant Services in Boston, Massachusetts

“…In many places, nonprofits have become increasingly involved in providing legal, educational, social, health, and employment services to immigrants (Hein, ; Cordero‐Guzman, ; Hung, ; Cantor and De Vita, ; deGraauw, ; Lee and De Vita, ; de Leon et al ., ). However, in municipalities with a limited history of immigrant settlement or more dispersed patterns, such organizations may not exist at all, limiting not just the quantity and quality of integration services provided, but also the ability to advocate for additional resources on behalf of immigrants (Hutcheson and Dominguez, ; Truelove, ; Wang and Truelove, ).…”

“There Is Abuse Everywhere”

“…Scholars of the voluntary sector are increasingly recognizing that organizations serving migrants constitute a distinct segment (de Leon et al 2009; Fox and Rivera-Salgado 2004; Hung 2007; Lee and De Vita 2008; Theodore and Martin 2007; Wong 2006). Their distinctiveness derives from three attributes: (1) their internal coherence, (2) their relationship to the rest of civil society, and (3) how they relate to society at large (Theodore and Martin 2007).…”

“…The focus on immigrant origins of the staff and clients leads to an approach to identifying organizations for study that is problematic. The most commonly used approach to identifying organizations decodes the name of the organization, based on references to a particular nationality or ethnicity (de Leon 2009; Lee and De Vita 2008; Trudeau 2008). As Ramakrishnan and Bloemraad point out, an ethnic-sounding name can exclude many organizations that serve migrants but choose not to highlight this in their name.…”

Case Study of an Ethnic Community-Based Organization in the United States

“…Despite the important role that ethnic CBOs can play, limited empirical knowledge exists about these organizations. The literature on ethnic CBOs primarily discusses these organizations in a descriptive manner, suggesting that ethnic CBOs (a) are generally smaller in staff size and total revenue than their mainstream counterparts, (b) typically locate in areas of high ethnic minority concentration, and (c) provide an array of culturally responsive programs that address the needs of both the community and individual service users (Hung, 2007; Lee & De Vita, 2008). While it is important to understand the organizational characteristics of ethnic CBOs, limited empirical evidence is available about the strategies and mechanisms used to engage their target populations, particularly in providing services where significant cultural barriers related to the stigma of mental illness discourage service use (Sue, Cheng, Saad, & Chu, 2012).…”

“…Ethnic organizations not only provide services in a socially and culturally conscientious manner, but they also have the ability to cultivate a sense of belonging by linking service users together to form a network of social support and shared sense of community through their common interests, values, and language. Ethnic organizations’ community-building capacity is a key characteristic in providing services to ethnic populations that are affected by the cultural stigma related to mental health care because they are able to reach out to those who cannot or will not seek help or support (Halpern, 1999; Holley, 2003; Lee & De Vita, 2008). These characteristics of ethnic organizations enable them to address community, organizational, and individual aspects of service delivery that can result in better engagement of ethnic minority service users, especially with regard to stigmatized services such as mental health care.…”