Executive Director's Message
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Something that most people don’t know is the amount of work that the Asian Pacific American Dispute Resolution Center (APADRC) does in comsumer/merchant debt collection cases. About half of our cases are related to debt collection of some sort. Many times, people will call us because they have received a summons to appear in court because someone has sued them to collect a debt. Among the documents that people receive with the lawsuit is a sheet with a list of community mediation centers that can help these people settle their debt without coming to court. In fact, the court encourages them to do so. APADRC is at the top of that list since the name of our organization begins with an “A.”
In these difficult economic times, we have been getting more calls because people have lost their jobs and are not able to pay their debts. However, it has also been more difficult to bring about a successful resolution to these cases because people just cannot afford to set up a payment plan to pay back the money they owe. So our resolution rate has gone down from 50% to 40%.
It is sad to see all these people who are jobless and struggling to stay afloat in some way. APADRC is planning to hold a series of workshops to help individuals gain communication skills to deal with some common problems and situations. Some of the topics will be negotiation skills, managing your debt, and parent-child conflict resolution skills. In the negotiation workshop, people will learn how to negotiate in any situation but special emphasis will be placed on negotiating to buy a house or car. The workshop on managing your debt will focus on teaching people what options there are when you have a large amount of debt. There are various options and some of the options are more harmful than helpful. The workshop on parent-child conflict resolution will feature a dual track workshop that teaches both parents and children how to more effectively communicate with each other. These workshops will be offered in Mandarin, Korean, and Spanish. Please visit our website in the future to get details about these workshops. |
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APADRC holds three 30 hour basic mediation trainings every year, usually in January, May, and September. Individuals who wish to volunteer as a mediator for APADRC must either attend one of these trainings or must have attended another training that has all the required elements required by Los Angeles County. If you are interested in volunteering with APADRC or just wish to gain conflict resolution skills for personal or professional growth, please contact Kent Zhu at kent.zhu@apadrc.org for more information. |
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In August, Southern California Edison gave Asian Pacific American Dispute Resolution Center (APADRC) a grant for $5,000 to support its youth program called Peace Makers & Mediators (PM2). The funding will allow APADRC to continue running PM2 in the schools. This year, APADRC is working in King/Drew Magnet High School of Medicine and Science (located in South Los Angeles), Thomas Starr King Middle School (located in Hollywood), and University High School (located on the Westside). Our youth program trains students in schools to be peer mediators who help other students resolve conflicts. This promotes communication, compromise, and self-empowerment, and also helps to reduce violence by keeping physical fights from happening. We are grateful to Southern California Edison for their generous gift and support over the years.
Click Here to read from our website |
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Peer Mediation Panel
"On August 7th, the Western Justice Center held a panel on Peer Mediation programs for interested teachers and educators in the Pasadena and greater Los Angeles Area. I was asked to speak on behalf of APADRC and felt fortunate to offer my experience as a Peer Mediation program coordinator..."
by David Ayala
APADRC Intern Experiences
"Working with APADRC for the past 9 months has been an experience that by all means has been anything but ordinary. Each day is packed with new clients, cases, and networking opportunities. The people I meet come from diverse backgrounds with unique life experiences and perspectives..."
by Lauro Cons
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A group of fifty-five Thai judges, who were invited by the Strauss Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine University Law School, arrived in Los Angeles to study the U.S legal system, as well as the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) practice in America.
 The Thai judges visited two community centers - Asian Pacific American Dispute Resolution Center (APADRC) and Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC). They heard several speakers talk about ADR and Thai community legal issues. Stewart Kwoh, President and Executive Director of APALC, talked about how APALC serves the community and went into details about the El Monte sweatshop case that they successfully handled over a decade ago. APALC and its partners were able to help the sweatshop workers, held in slavery-like conditions, gain restitution for wages and mis-treatment and also gain legal status in this country to eventually gain citizenship. One of the workers who was part of the group of freed workers spoke about her experiences of being held against her will and made to work and getting the help of APALC and Thai Community Development Center to build a new life afterwards.
This was followed by a speech by Charles Chang, Executive Director of APADRC, who spoke about the history and mission of APADRC and also spoke on current challenges to maintaining and developing the organization. The forum ended with Kent Zhu, Program Director of APADRC, speaking about APADRC’s programs. Also attending the event were representatives from Pepperdine University and Thai Community Development Corporation.
As Thailand continues its economic recovery, it has regained the economic confidence from its people as well as the international society. However, the social conflicts that are accompanying the democratic movement have urged the King to seek new resources in order to change the current situation.
Unlike traditional legal systems, which use numerous resources to adjust, ADR, such as mediation, provides a platform to facilitate dialogues between parties in conflict to achieve a mutual and agreeable solution with less cost and time. Many traditional practices of conflict resolution in Thailand are close to the way Americans practice it here in the United States. Because of their easier access to the Thai population, the group is hoping to bring a new ADR experience from the west to help in resolving both civil and political conflicts and regain peace in the Buddhist Kingdom. |
Raising Awareness about Conflict Resolution Services - by Carolina Garza
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Many of the people who are motivated to work at community mediations centers are driven by the same passions that drive grassroots activism, social justice, community service etc. All of these paths/tactics to empower community all seek to raise awareness for various issues like immigration reform, same-sex marriage equality and more.
Here at the Asian Pacific American Dispute Resolution Center (APADRC), our staff and volunteers desire to spread awareness about conflict resolution in order to empower communities to take back the power of deciding outcomes for their conflicts or even avoiding conflict all together. Many communities have become excessively reliant upon third parties that make decisions for them like courts and law enforcement. Each party believes they are in the right and will therefore win their case. An alternative to authoritative third parties like judges and police can be the people themselves. This is why APADRC feels it’s necessary to raise awareness about our services and will dedicate themselves to a Facilitation and Mediation Awareness Campaign in which we will promote our services to several communities via the organizations that serve them.
If you are interested in receiving information about our campaign please contact Carolina Garza at carolina.garza@apadrc.org. |
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Support Asian Pacific Community Fund
Support Asian Pacific American Dispute Resolution Center (APADRC) by donating to the Asian Pacific Community Fund through Your Workplace Giving Program!
Does your company/employer have a workplace giving program? Many workplace giving campaigns will take place over the next few months as employees are encouraged to give to various charitable organizations. The Asian Pacific Community Fund (APCF) represents APADRC as well as 28 others all providing vital health and human services to communities in need throughout Los Angeles County. APCF will be participating in many workplace giving campaigns including the following and many others. Please check with your employer if your organization is not listed below.
Kaiser Permanente
City of Carson
City of Los Angeles
City of Monterey Park
City of Santa Monica
County of Los Angeles
State of California
Federal Government
Please make a payroll deduction or one time donation to APCF through your employer’s workplace giving program today. Your donation is tax deductible! Funds generated through APCF support 29 agencies providing programs and services to 250,000 people each year in a total of 27 Asian languages plus English and Spanish. Programs and services include after-school programs, child care, disabled assistance, health care, legal services, low income housing, senior services, violence prevention and much much more. Your donation helps to enhance the quality of life for all by building healthy sustainable communities. For more information on APCF and its affiliate agencies, please visit www.apcf.org.
Would you like to set up a Workplace Giving Campaign in your company/business or donate to APCF? Please contact Debra Fong at dfong@apcf |
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| Contact Us |
Hours of Operation
Monday - Friday
9:00am to 5:00pm
Open weekends & evenings by appointment only |
Phone: (213) 250-8190
Fax: (213) 250-8195
E-mail: minkyung.suh@apadrc.org
1145 Wilshire Blvd., Suite #100
Los Angeles, CA 90017 |
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