OUR STORY
Our roots...
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It was in the 1970s when the State of New Jersey saw an influx of Filipino immigrants. This could have been brought about by the proximity of New York City where there were also a big presence of Filipino immigrants. By the early 1990s, Jersey City had the largest concentration of Filipinos in the State of New Jersey.
Filipino professionals in various fields of education, medical, engineering, business, and other professionals started calling Jersey City home thereby contributing to its economic renaissance. Filipinos started organizing the community and while there were numerous Filipino organizations in Hudson County, most of them were focused in helping the Philippines.
Linda Mayo, the first Asian elected official in Hudson County and former Jersey City Deputy Mayor, recognized the need for creating a non-profit organization that would serve the needs of the Filipino diaspora. Linda pioneered the founding of PACCAL with the help of a group of World War II veterans headed by the late Sir Col. Mariano S. Aureus. Linda held the position of PACCAL, president for twelve years and since then became the Executive Director implementing programs and services. Linda was also the founder and former president of the Ladies for Rizal, Inc., New Jersey Chapter, USA an official affiliate of the “Kababaihang Rizalista, Inc.,” an international organization with headquarters based in the Philippines.
The first issue tackled by PACCAL was housing for Filipino seniors. They helped seniors in the process of applying in different Jersey City Senior Housing buildings. The first successful applicants PACCAL helped in Harborview Senior housing were WWII veterans and through them other Filipinos followed suit. PACCAL was the first support group of PAVO, Inc. in its fight for equity and continues to help the veterans.
The next project was the initiative to encourage voters’ registration and promote citizenship drives to empower the Filipino community.
, Another project that PACCAL is also proud to have achieved is the section of the Filipino books in the Jersey City Public Library. Through the partnership of Linda and Sir Dennis Hayes who was then the Director of the Jersey City Public Library from 1994 - 1996, they were able to build a collection of 500 Philippine books. The collection ranges from current form of government and economy to history, culture, arts, and heritage.
The PACCAL Neighborhood Center has been a haven for Filipinos in
Jersey City needing information and referrals to City & County government
services as well as other provider service agencies. Some of the services are
information and referrals on senior entitlements; referrals to affordable medical
check-ups and health services; social and recreational activities for seniors; youth
classes on Philippine history, values & culture, and folk arts programs; substance
abuse education & prevention; domestic violence prevention; educational forums
and workshops or youth and family. PACCAL has also helped many Filipino
women who were victims of domestic violence.
PACCAL is a member of the Hudson County HIV/AIDS Planning
Council with voting members since 2001. PACCAL also had an HIV/AIDS
outreach and support group.
PACCAL had received grants from various entities like the City of Jersey City, Division of Community Development; Hudson County Office on Aging, Department of Health and Human Services, Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs, Office of Tourism Development. Although a big portion of it has been cut due to unavailable local county funding, PACCAL continues its mission.
PACCAL is proud to continue its service to the community and be a community partner of Asian American Federation for the US CENSUS 2010 and CENSUS 2020, NYU-Project AsPIRE and Kalusugan Coalition in the study of hypertension and oral care in the Filipino Community in Jersey City. Additional information of what we have done in the past and recent months can be found here >> Our Track Record