plus a big announcement from us...
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A graphic of the fundraiser logo. To the right is NAKASEC’s Logo. To the Left in Bold blue letters with a top down, dark to light gradation says “Pursuing our Dreams”. Underneath in smaller yellow font: June 24, 2021.
Thank you ALL for your support!

We're still recovering from the excitement of NAKASEC & Hamkae Center's (formerly NAKASEC VA) joint Virtual Gala: Pursuing our Dreams! In case you missed the celebration or just want to re-live the event, check out the recording on our Facebook page.

Here are some of our highlights of the night:
Thao Nguyen performs 'Temple'
 

We got chills from Thao's acoustic performance of 'Temple', the title track of her band's latest album. It's a beautiful song written to honor her mother's complex experiences before, while, and after she fled the war in Vietnam, and to claim Thao's own freedom to exist as her full self. 

Our connection with such an amazing, radical artist (born and raised in Falls Church, a few miles from our Annandale office) inspires us to keep building relationships to help Asian Americans in Virginia find, establish, and affirm their roots and belonging. 
Katie Zhang receives Young People Power Award

Katie is one of our Summer 2020 NLC alum. Her cohort organized for health justice, including leading a phone-banking session that helped convince VA legislators to end the 40 Quarter Rule, expanding crucial Medicaid access to more immigrants in our communities!

During the youth conversation, she spoke about her dreams of community love for the most marginalized within our Asian American communities, and how young Asian Americans should look to movement history and elders to know that they're not alone in their fight for justice.
Atif Qarni receives Community Courage Award

We've been in many conversations about and have advocated for education equity alongside Atif Qarni, who is Virginia's Secretary of Education. Supporting admissions reform due to TJHSST's abysmally low Black and Latinx student population numbers has been a highly controversial stance to take as Asian Americans in Virginia.

Accepting this award, he spoke about how addressing systemic barriers to inclusion must be a collaborative effort that includes learning the full breadth of the issue and building relationships with decision-makers.

Naturalization Team receives People Power Award

Deokhee Ryu and Asher Keam are two of our seven core naturalization clinic volunteers, all of whom received this award! They both spoke about about the importance of helping people in our communities achieve a better quality of life by obtaining citizenship, while simultaneously fighting for a more equitable immigration system for all.
Linda Hung reveals our New Name
 

With a flick of her wrist, the great magician Linda Hung revealed our big secret:

NAKASEC VA is now Hamkae Center!

Stay tuned in for more details to come in these next few months about this exciting name change.

Originally, the attached pdf of Linda's magic tricks were reserved for those who registered for our gala.  But, in the spirit of YOUR generosity that helped us surpass our fundraising goal (we raised $58,125!), we wanted to share it with everyone! 

Thanks to our dedicated community leaders, our talented performers, our generous donors and sponsors, and YOU, we at Hamkae Center will continue growing our powerful organizing and advocacy, civic engagement, leadership development, and community service programs.

It’s never too late to invest in our collective power and dreams; make a contribution today! We’re ready to continue fighting for healthcare and citizenship for all, education equity, language justice, and much more, together with everyone in our communities.
Donate Today!
 
Thanks to our Generous Sponsors:

Hamkae Center (formerly known as NAKASEC VA)

703-256-2208

Locations (appointment-only):
4304 Evergreen Ln. #104, Annandale, VA 22003
13890 Braddock Rd. #309, Centreville, VA 20121

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