Flushing Mobility Collaborative Launches Community Survey to Solve Economic Challenges in Flushing
The Flushing Mobility Collaborative releases its community survey after months of planning and preparation with community members and stakeholders. The community survey was announced on September 14th during a virtual press conference with Collaborative partners.
Residents of Flushing, Queens are encouraged to take the survey. Participants have the chance to win a $100 American Express Gift Card.
Take the survey in English here.
Take the survey in Chinese - Simplified here.
Take the survey in Chinese - Traditional here.
Take the survey in Korean here.
Take the survey in Bengali here (coming soon).
Flushing Mobility Collaborative Launches Community Survey to Solve Economic Challenges in Flushing
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 14, 2020
CONTACT: Marilla Li 718-358-8899 x 750 mli2@cpc-nyc.org
FLUSHING, NY — The Flushing Mobility Collaborative, comprised of six nonprofit organizations — Asian Americans for Equality, Child Center of NY, Chinese-American Planning Council, MinKwon Center for Community Action, Queens Public Library, and RIVER FUND — announced today that it is launching a community survey to better understand and solve the economic challenges in Flushing.
Formed in September 2019, the collaborative created this community survey in consultation with a Community Advisory Group, made up of individuals who live and work in Flushing, and with a Partners Advisory Group, made up of cross-sector stakeholders who have different expertise in Flushing. The collaborative determined the survey’s main areas of focus — housing, meaningful income, transportation, and health — by holding a community listening session in January 2020 that was attended by the collaborative, the Community and Partners Advisory Groups, and members of the public.
Flushing is a neighborhood with many unique features. Over 58.7% of its residents are foreign-born and over half are Asian, whose poverty rates are much higher than the city average. By assessing the results of the survey, the collaborative will better understand the economic challenges that Flushing faces and thus propose solutions to sustainably lift community members out of poverty. The results of this survey will inform a final report to be released in December 2020 that will highlight findings and propose recommendations to create mobility from poverty and to promote social and economic opportunity in Flushing. Although the collaborative began this work before COVID-19 hit New York, this survey has been repeatedly adapted to address both new issues arising from and long term issues enhanced by the pandemic.
This work is a part of the Mobility Learning and Action Bets (LABs) initiative funded by the Robin Hood Foundation. The community survey will be made available until October 31, 2020 and can be accessed in multiple languages — English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, Spanish, and Bengali — both in hard copy and online. Respondents will have an opportunity to be entered into a raffle to win a $100 gift card.
Learn more about the Flushing Mobility Collaborative, the community survey, and the Mobility LABs initiative at http://bit.ly/FlushingMobility.
“I am thrilled to join the Flushing Mobility Collaborative in celebrating the launch of our community survey,” said Wayne Ho, President & CEO of the Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC). “Since we started this work last year, CPC has worked with the collaborative to facilitate community-led efforts to better understand how to lift Flushing families out of poverty. As we weather the effects of this pandemic, we are mindful that COVID-19 has not only created unexpected economic hardships but also widened existing gaps for many Asian American, low-income, and immigrant families in Flushing. With this survey, CPC and the collaborative will get a better look at our community members’ current realities and empower them to create sustainable solutions. I am grateful to the members of the Flushing Mobility Collaborative, local community members and partners, and Robin Hood for making it possible to improve economic opportunity in Flushing.”
“Even as the physical doors to Flushing Library remain temporarily closed, the branch continues to serve as a vibrant virtual community hub, offering a range of programming online, from bilingual storytimes and cultural performances to Tai Chi classes to a Chinese language book club,” said Queens Public Library President and CEO Dennis M. Walcott. “We are excited to launch this survey with our community partners and hope it will deepen our understanding of the needs of Flushing residents – during COVID-19 and beyond — allowing us to provide quality resources and programs to help them be successful in their lives.”
“It has been an honor working alongside and learning from all the other organizations, community partners and members of The Flushing Mobility Collaborative,” said Nicholas Ferreira, Vice President of Youth Development of The Child Center of NY. “Today’s survey launch is an important step forward to learning even more about the needs and challenges facing so many families of Flushing. With COVID-19 exacerbating many of the existing impacts of poverty, this work is more urgent than ever. The insights gained from today’s survey launch will better support The Child Center and all our partners efforts to help the families of Flushing thrive.”
"Fighting poverty is more urgent than ever for low-income, immigrant neighborhoods like Flushing, where too many individuals and families are facing eviction, rising unemployment, and the shuttering of small businesses," said Jennifer Sun and Thomas Yu, co-executive directors of Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE). "The community survey is an important way for Flushing residents, workers, and small business owners to help the Flushing Mobility Collaborative and policymakers develop more inclusive safety nets and economic opportunity, removing barriers based on race, income, and immigration status."
"Flushing is a unique and dynamic neighborhood with its own set of social and economic drivers that often causes it to operate differently and independently from the rest of the City,” said John Park, Executive Director of MinKwon Center for Community Action. “The Flushing Mobility Collaborative, in partnership with the Robin Hood Foundation and a broad range of local residents and longtime community based organizations, launched a community survey today that will serve as a key tool to help end poverty and strengthen the local community in Flushing."
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