Our History | Japan Multicultural Relief Fund

History and Timeline

2011

March

Japan Multicultural Relief Fund (JMRF) was jointly founded by Japan Pacific Resource Network (JPRN) and Eclipse Rising (ER) in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

JMRF is endorsed by the Peace Development Fund (http://www.peacedevelopmentfund.org/).

March 23

Marvin Gibson (JPRN Board President), Miho Kim and Akane Nobusa (JMRF) participated in the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Fundraiser at SOM Bar, San Francisco

April 1-2

JMRF participated in the Park Chalet Garden Restaurant Fundraiser, San Francisco

April 7

JMRF participated in the Social Justice Fair at San Francisco State University, San Francisco

April 10

JMRF along with the Bay Area Japanese Newcomers participated in the Anti-War & Anti-Nuke Rally at Dolores Park, San Francisco

April 17

JMRF presented at the Uhuru Solidarity Movement's Earth Uprising: Teach-in and Musical Benefit, San Francisco

April 23

JMRF participated in the We Are One Island: Japan Relief Concert and Auction, Oakland

May

JMRF delivered the relief grant of 500,000 yen (appx. $6,348) to the seven grassroots organizations that work with "marginalized" communities in the disaster-struck region, including foreign residents, migrant workers, single parent households, people with disabilities and elders.

For several of these organizations, JMRF grant proved to be the first relief fund to reach them - before government or other private sources

See JMRF Newsletter: http://relief.jprn.org/newsletter.php

May 1

Bake Sale for JMRF organized by Berkeley Elementary Students

May 7

JMRF presented at the conference: Immigration at the National and Local Levels in Japan held at University of California, San Diego

June 12

Reach Across the Pacific: Youth Music for Japan Relief organized by Oakland Middle School Students

August 11

JMRF visited NPO Woori Hakkyo (1 of the 2011 JMRF Grantees) in Tokyo, Japan

September

JMRF conducted the Interim Surveys and Interviews with the seven grantees in regards to how the grant has been used, what kind activities and programs have been run, assessment of issues on the ground, and goal-setting for the reconstruction phase

See JMRF Newsletter: http://relief.jprn.org/newsletter.php

October 12

JMRF presented at the “People with Disabilities/Elderly” workgroup organized by City of Richmond Fire Department’s Emergency Services

October 23

JMRF presented at the San Diego Asian Film Festival

November 10

JMRF participated in the ALIGN-Alameda Linking Interfaith Groups & Nonprofits

December 3

JMRF endorsed the No Nukes Actions Committee event, “Fukushima, The Lessons of Nuclear Power and the Media” and presented at San Francisco State University, San Francisco

December 10

JMRF slideshow presentation at the Amagasaki Human Rights Festival in Amagasaki, Japan

December

JMRF connected Occupy Berkeley and Fukushima Women's Anti-Nuclear Movement which sent a box of knitted hats and scarves to women from Fukushima who protested at Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and the Ministry of Economy and Industry in Tokyo, Japan

December 30

Released the 2011 JMRF Newsletter to report how donations have made positive impacts on the victims and survivors, particularly those in the “marginalized” communities in the disaster-struck regions.

See JMRF Newsletter: http://relief.jprn.org/newsletter.php

2012

February

JMRF connected KoreAm Magazine and NPR and two Korean schools in the disaster-struck region in the process of reconstruction.

See KoreAm article: http://iamkoream.com/march-issue-revisiting-japan-a-year-after-the-tsunami/ Listen to NPR program: http://www.npr.org/2012/03/09/148304286/for-kids-in-japan-adjusting-to-a-changed-world

March

2011 Grantee Final Reports submitted

Ongoing Projects

With support of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC: http://www.uusc.org/), JMRF has helped found the community dining hall/multicultural community center in Minamisanriku, Fukushima Prefecture and Hotline Project for Minority Women Survivors.

1. Community Dining Center in Minami Sanriku, Japan

(December, 2011 –Present; Funded by UUSC from December, 2011 to June, 2012)

This project is to build a multicultural community dining center with a community radiation detection program in Minami Sanriku, a town of 10,800 in the center of the disaster-struck region of Tohoku, to help ensure a safe local food supply system. This center will be a place for comprehensive community services for all people in the community, including low- to no-income and non-Japanese residents. The center and community dining hall will be envisioned and run by a multiethnic leadership team in order to ensure diverse community representation.

2. Minority Women's Empowerment & Recovery Hotline Project

(April, 2012 –Present; Funded by UUSC from UUSC from May, 2012 to March, 2013)

The national multi-lingual hotline project for women-identified minority people displaced by the earthquke/tsunami will seek to reduce the vulnerability to domestic violence suffered by immigrant and minority women in the earthquake affected areas. The project provides a multi-lingual domestic violence hotline to connect women to counseling, support and services for 9 months. During that time, we will advocate with the Japanese government and Japanese women’s movement to provide permanent infrastructure, training support and administrative support to sustain multi-lingual services and supports to these women to meet their rising need for community recovery and reconstruction.