Reprint from THE BOSTON GLOBE NORTHWEST dated Thurs. May 22, 2003 :
NONPROFIT SUPPORTS ASIAN WOMEN
By John Laidler, Globe Correspondent
It began with a discussion among four Indian-American friends at a Starbucks in Faneuil Hall in the fall of 2001.
The four women had all had similar experiences over the years providing emotional support and guidance to other Indian immigrant women, including those victimized by domestic violence. They wondered: Why not start an organization that would provide in a formal way the services they were providing informally?
"We decided the time has come, with the growing numbers of people here, the growing Indian community, that we needed to form a more solid union," said Kamal Misra of Winchester.
Three years later, the idea that took root in a coffee shop is coming to full bloom. In late 2001, the Asian American Support and Resource Agency was born.
A year ago, the agency incorporated as a nonprofit. Last November, it held its first major fund-raiser, drawing 200 people to the Wyndham Hotel in Burlington. And on March 30, the agency moved into its first home, an office in Cummings Park in Woburn.
Run with the help of donations and the considerable energy of its six volunteer board members, AASRA offers confidential support services and educational programs for South Asian women.
The agency charges $15 a year in dues, but women do not have to be members to access the services. The issue of membership does not come up in counseling sessions, but AASRA does encourage women attending its educational forums to join the organization.
"We think this will be a central organization and a central place for women to come and ask whatever they need," said Misra, one of the four founders of the agency and now a board member. She immigrated here in 1974 and owns a printing shop in Woburn.
"Our role is to be there for as many people as we can be there for," said Anu Bandopadhay of Westford, another AASRA board member.
Though welcoming of women from across the Boston area, the organization focuses on providing its services in the region that includes Burlington, Lexington, Lowell, Reading, Stoneham, Waltham, Wilmington, Woburn, and Winchester.
AASRA, which has its own website, is the first of its kind in the Boston area with an office and a mission to serve women from the South Asian community, according to its organizers.
With its limited budget, the AASRA office is open just one afternoon a week, on Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m., when one or two clients drop by on average. But group members during the week respond to phone calls, letters, and e-mail. Ultimately, their hope is to have the office open full-time, with a paid staff member.
So far, the organization's nearly 100 members are all Indian immigrants, as are the women it has helped. But the group hopes to attract and be a resource to women from other South Asian nations, including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
In the Greater Boston area, the Indian-American community totals about 50,000 people, according to AASRA estimates. Many of the immigrants come from professional backgrounds, drawn to the area because of jobs in the high-tech field, according to AASRA members.
During AASRA's formative months, the group members met Sunday nights at the Bangalore Club Restaurant in Winchester and in private homes, Bandopadhay said. "We were passionate about what we wanted to do, and we started reaching out" to people who could offer their talents to the effort, she said.
Organizers say establishing an office is an exciting milestone for the group.
"People feel that they are going to an official place. It makes them feel comfortable that this is not some anonymous place," said Archana Singhal of Lexington, an AASRA board member.
For many South Asian women, the adjustment to this country can be difficult, particularly if a woman's immigration status prevents her from working. Separated from their extended families and with little opportunity to form relationships outside the home, many women feel isolated.
"First-generation immigrants always have alienation issues," said Bandopadhay. "Their family's way back home. They are suddenly alone. It gets to you. You have no way to assimilate yourself in the community.
"There are mainstream organizations where they could go and seek help. But they are typically shy or inhibited by their family, their spousal counterparts" from doing so, said Bandopadhay, who immigrated here in 1983 and works in business development for Nortel Networks in Billerica.
The emotional difficulty is compounded when there is marital discord or, worse, when the women are victims of domestic abuse.
"They really feel helpless, and they do not know where to go and who to talk to about their problems," Misra said. "This is what we are really trying to develop, that they should not feel alone . . . that they can come and they can talk to us."
In addition to emotional support, AASRA provides its clients with referrals to legal, health-care, and other services, tapping a growing network of professionals from the Asian community who have volunteered their services on a pro bono basis.
Often, the group provides assistance in searching for a job or in dealing with an immigration issue.
The educational programs, typically on Sunday afternoons, cover such issues as domestic violence, immigration matters, how to start a small business, raising children, and cultural conflicts.
AASRA can be reached at 54 Cummings Park, Suite 316, Woburn, MA 01801; by phone at 866-922-2772; by e-mail at aasra@aasranewengland.com; or at www.aasranewengland.com.
