When the Southeast Asian Coalition was founded in 2001, the Direct Services and Referral program was our first program. It fulfilled a need within the Asian community of Worcester to provide assistance which would be more accessible than what was offered at the time.

These days, the program is still a vital part of the Coalition, offering more than just translating and form filling. Our aim is to give our clients greater independence, and to do that we focus on areas such as employment, citizenship and civic engagement.

It is the only way for our community members to become part of the mainstream society.

The Southeast Asian Coalition offers a plethora of direct services including health care outreach and health promotion activities, civic education and engagement activities, translation services, and community based cultural programming. Below are the stories of two women who have obtained U.S. citizenship, and more, with the help of SEAC's direct servicing programs.

Workforce Central at the Southeast Asian Coalition

Every Monday, Ann Antunes from Workforce Central will be at our office, providing information on employment opportunities and advice on job preparation.

The Worcester Lead Abatement Program.

This is a federally funded grant program that is designed to assist property owners with the cost of lead paint abatement in eligible properties. To learn more about the program please call us at 508-791-4373.

Citizenship

Over the years we have helped many community members achieve citizenship, through application preparation and

enrollment in the ESL classes. However, we felt that we should make  the citizenship application more  accessible to everyone by starting the conversation class and incorporating the citizenship test.