Sydney Luna

The Center for Pan Asian Community Services, Inc. (CPACS) mission is to promote self-sufficiency and equity for immigrants, refugees, and the underprivileged through comprehensive health and social services, capacity building, and advocacy. CPACS, founded in 1980 on the belief that people need people, is the first, largest, and longest standing organization in the Southeast focused on issues concerning Asian Americans. Since its inception CPACS goal has been to deliver a broad continuum of comprehensive, family centered health and social services. CPACS recognizes that health, education, employment, citizenship, and community are interrelated, interdependent, and integral to individual success as well as the ability to contribute to the society in which we live. During the past 32 years CPACS has evolved from a volunteer-run organization formed to help local Korean Americans, into a multi-service organization with a diverse staff of more than 25 full and 69 part-time employees with the ability to speak 15 different languages (Asian and non-Asian). CPACS capacity has grown from 791 clients served per month in 1999 to 2,500 clients served per month in 2012. Although CPACS has a unique capacity to serve Asian Americans and continues to provide essential services that benefit that group, it has evolved to provide services that benefit the entire community, particularly limited English proficient members of our community, regardless of racial or ethnic makeup.