About SAALT’s work in the DC area
SAALT engages in both nation­al and local lev­el work in the Wash­ing­ton, DC area. Local­ly, SAALT holds events that pro­mote dia­logue and com­mu­ni­ty edu­ca­tion. We have held sev­er­al com­mu­ni­ty events, includ­ing a nat­u­ral­iza­tion legal clin­ic, book read­ings by South Asian authors, and Town Hall forums. 

About the New Americans Citizenship Project of Maryland (NACPM)
The New Amer­i­cans Cit­i­zen­ship Project of Mary­land is focused on cit­i­zen­ship pro­mo­tion and immi­grant inte­gra­tion work, with an empha­sis on sup­port­ing eli­gi­ble Legal Per­ma­nent Res­i­dents (LPRs) through the cit­i­zen­ship process and in receiv­ing some of the ben­e­fits of cit­i­zen­ship, includ­ing bet­ter employ­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties and high­er salaries, oppor­tu­ni­ties for involve­ment in polit­i­cal eco­nom­ic, and social insti­tu­tions, access increased edu­ca­tion oppor­tu­ni­ties, and abil­i­ty to peti­tion for fam­i­ly mem­bers by becom­ing U.S. cit­i­zens. The project is coor­di­nat­ed by CASA de Mary­land as part of the Mary­land New Amer­i­cans Partnership.

Con­tact info@saalt.org for more infor­ma­tion on the NACPM.

Montgomery County Resources Brochure
As part of the Mary­land Com­mu­ni­ty Empow­er­ment Project, SAALT and the Asian Pacif­ic Amer­i­can Legal Resource Cen­ter (APALRC) has released a new guide to gov­ern­ment resources for South Asians in Mont­gomery Coun­ty. The brochure answers basic ques­tions that com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers may have about resources avail­able to com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers in the coun­ty, including:

• access­ing afford­able health care
• apply­ing for unem­ploy­ment insur­ance, food stamps, and oth­er gov­ern­ment assis­tance programs
• ten­ant rights information
• fore­clo­sure assis­tance resources

The guide is avail­able in Eng­lish, Hin­di, Urdu, and Bangla. For more infor­ma­tion, please con­tact info@saalt.org.

About the DC South Asian Community

The Wash­ing­ton D.C area is home to the 5th largest South Asian pop­u­la­tion in the coun­try. Accord­ing to the 2005 U.S. Cen­sus, there are over 107,000 South Asian immi­grants in the area.

Read more about South Asians liv­ing in the Wash­ing­ton D.C. in the Wash­ing­ton DeSi: South Asians in the Nation’s Cap­i­tal (July 2009)

Quick Facts on the South Asian com­mu­ni­ty in the DC Area:

• In Wash­ing­ton D.C., the Indi­an com­mu­ni­ty was the largest Asian eth­nic group in 2006
• In Vir­ginia, a high con­cen­tra­tion of South Asians reside in Arling­ton and Fair­fax coun­ties. In fact, cen­sus data reveal that the Bangladeshi com­mu­ni­ty grew over 300% between 1990 and 2000 in Fair­fax Coun­ty, VA.
• In Mary­land, a high con­cen­tra­tion of South Asians reside in Mont­gomery, Howard, and Bal­ti­more counties

Local organizations that work with the South Asian community

Asian Amer­i­can Health Ini­tia­tive (AAHI) Patient Nav­i­ga­tor Program
Pro­vides trained med­ical inter­pre­ta­tion and a mul­ti-lin­gual health infor­ma­tion helpline. Con­tact 301.760.4993.

ASHA for Women
Ded­i­cat­ed to pro­vid­ing cul­tur­al­ly spe­cif­ic, mul­ti-lin­gual sup­port and refer­ral ser­vices to women of South Asian descent. Con­tact coordinator@ashaforwomen.org or 888.417.2742 (helpline) or 202.207.1248 (office).

Asian Pacif­ic Amer­i­can Legal Resource Center
Advances the legal and civ­il rights of Asian Amer­i­cans through direct ser­vices, edu­ca­tion, advo­ca­cy and legal ser­vice refer­rals. Con­tact hotline@apalrc.org or 202.293.3572.

Asian/Pacific Islander Domes­tic Vio­lence Resource Project (DVRP)
Aims to end domes­tic vio­lence in the Asian/Pacific Islander communities.
Con­tact info@dvrp.org or 202.464.4477.

Coun­selors Help­ing Asian/Indians (CHAI), Inc.
Pro­vides edu­ca­tion, advo­ca­cy, coun­sel­ing and refer­ral ser­vices to the South Asian com­mu­ni­ty about men­tal health issues. Con­tact raziakosi@chaicounselors.org or 410.461.1634.

Foun­da­tion for Appro­pri­ate and Imme­di­ate Tem­po­rary Help (FAITH Social Services)
Pro­vides human­i­tar­i­an aid to needy indi­vid­u­als and fam­i­lies liv­ing in North­ern Vir­ginia. Con­tact info@faithus.org or (571) 323‑2198.

Khush DC
Pro­vides a safe and sup­port­ive envi­ron­ment for les­bian, gay, bisex­u­al, trans­gen­der, ques­tion­ing (LGBTQ) South Asians. Con­tact president@khushdc.org or 202.518.2265.

Mus­li­mat Al-Nisaa
Responds to the health­care, edu­ca­tion­al and hous­ing needs of the home­less women in the Mus­lim com­mu­ni­ty. Con­tact mus­li­mat-alnisaa@yahoo.com or 410.466.8686.

Vir­ginia Mus­lim Pub­lic Action Com­mit­tee (VMPAC)
Edu­cates and engages the Mus­lim com­mu­ni­ty to par­tic­i­pate in the polit­i­cal process of the Com­mon­wealth of Vir­ginia. Con­tact info@vmpac.org or 703.881.9111.

South Asian Adult Day­care Center
Pro­vides free in-house nurs­ing and health ser­vices, trans­porta­tion, veg­e­tar­i­an meals, and activ­i­ties for South Asian seniors (65+) who live in MD. Con­tact 240.994.4607 or saadcmd@gmail.com.

Help us add to this page! Con­tact us at info@saalt.org.