LOS ANGELES — The Filipino American Service Group Inc. (FASGI) will be taking part in this weekend’s Choices Expo at the LA Convention Center, to promote its health and citizenship services to the Los Angeles community.
Choices Expo is a day-long family-oriented event that aims to showcase the various choices and resources that LA families have in selecting the “best-fit” schools and healthcare resources to suit their unique needs. It will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Saturday, Oct. 11.
Choices Expo organizers believe that since 61 percent of all children in LA County live with a parent that is foreign born, it is important to create an “Immigrant Student Resource Safe Zone” where immigrant parents can learn about education and wellness option.
FASGI became involved in the event when Choices Expo Creator Xavier Reyes reached out to the Filipino group in hopes of having a trusted community organization to discuss the importance of immigration rights and citizenship issues. FASGI will be discussing its services for naturalization and resources that can help immigrants become US Citizens.
While immigration and citizenship issues may not be the central focus of Choices Expo, FASGI officials still believe that it is important for the organization to be part of the event.
“FASGI’s mission is to improve the quality of life in our community through housing, health, advocacy, education, and research. With this we believe in better choices for education and better choices for health. That is what we want every community including the Filipino community to be involved in this event,” FASGI Executive Director Susan Dilkes said in an email to Asian Journal.
Dilkes added that FASGI will also be promoting its Healthy Tayo (Kali Exercises) program at the Choices Expo because they want to help people — especially the elderly — to stay healthy.
Hector Escobar, a promoter for Choices Expo, said that while most of the expected attendants of Choices Expo will be from the Latino community, he believes that it is also important for Filipinos to be involved in this event.
“Filipinos and Latinos both suffer of gap on academic success and health risks like obesity I think it’s very crucial that Filipino come to this powerful event,” Escobar said. “At the end of the day, we do not want just Latino communities to benefit from this but everybody to benefit from these kinds of events.”
Escobar said that the event’s goal is to not just move, but to improve the knowledge and resources of every community.
For more information on Choices Expo, visit www.lachoices.com.
