On behalf of everyone at Asian Americans for Equality, I’d like to wish you a happy New Year.
2014 was a big year for AAFE – We celebrated our 40th anniversary at a fantastic gala among friends, colleagues, and supporters; as part of those celebrations, we produced a documentary film and a commemorative journal that looked back on our roots and the work we’ve done over the past four decades; AAFE was named Non-Profit of the Year at the New York Housing Conference and National Housing Conference’s 41st Annual Awards Program; we were also recognized by the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development for our role in the first Federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit project in New York City; our economic development corporation, Renaissance, continued to go from strength to strength and was named one of five community-based partners selected to participate in the Department of Small Business Service’s Immigrant Business Initiative; finally, as a whole, AAFE has continued to fight for the rights of underserved communities across New York’s five boroughs. I’m immensely proud of all that we achieved in what was a banner year for our organization.
But, rest assured, we won’t rest on our laurels in 2015. Make no mistake, New York City is in the midst of an affordable housing crisis. 32 percent of the city’s renter households pay over 50 percent of their income in rent and should be considered “severely rent-burdened.” As a result, the work we do in our housing divisions is more relevant than ever.
As always, we’ll approach the challenges that 2015 brings with the same determination, focus, and willingness to innovate that has served us well in the past. Happy New Year, everyone.
