Chinatown Community Needs Assessment
Created By: Blake Hardin, Kellie Lawler, Rachel Nagamine, Kiana Sisneroz, and Elizabeth Timmons
This Community Needs Assessment was created for the University of Oregon International Studies course INTL 410: Global Cultures I and II taught by Drs. Leslie Jo Weaver and Kristin Yarris. In response to cancelled study abroad and internship opportunities, this course encouraged students majoring in International Studies to immerse themselves in the cultural diversity around Oregon by researching five different diasporic communities. This group focused on the health and safety of Chinese American community members in Portland, Oregon’s Chinatown. Our Community Needs Assessment is divided into three large categories, listed below:
Historical Background:
The historical background of Chinese Americans in Oregon, describes the waves of Chinese immigration to Oregon and the creation and growth of the Chinese American community in Portland. It provides the contextual information that our needs assessment uses as a foundation to accurately isolate areas for potential improvement in the community. The maps to the right illustrate the current boundaries of Portland’s Chinatown.
Community Assets:
The community assets section identifies the aspects of the Chinese American community that we feel most benefit the current community members. In our case, these assets include a very strong community support structure, rich cultural heritage in the Portland area, and strong socio economic indicators. By using resources already available in the community, we believe that our proposed community improvement goals will be far more attainable.
Community Recommendations:
The final section, Community Recommendations, includes the proposals for improving the health and wellbeing of the community as a whole. These proposals, divided into three main goals, were developed after extensive research and community outreach to determine the issues posed both in normal life and in the midst of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. There are obviously more issues than can be addressed in this project, but we believe that our three proposals would provide the greatest benefit to Portland’s Chinatown moving forward.
In addition to our Community Needs Assessment, we have also included a variety of resources intended for use by the Chinese American community. These resources are fully translated and provide relevant and up-to-date information surrounding Covid-19. There are resources at the national, state, and city level that provide information regarding Covid-19 symptoms and treatment, small business and unemployment support, healthy and safety information, and a link to report discrimination and hate crimes.
We hope that this website is helpful for those looking to provide support to Portland’s Chinatown and for the community members of Chinatown themselves. If you have connections to a community that would find these resources useful please feel free to distribute and share them.
If you have questions, comments, or concerns please contact us at bhardin@uoregon.edu.