JMRF Fund Helped Women in Fukushima

"Before March 11th, we used to support only 70 single parent members and their children. But, with the closure of organizations and networks, we started serving women in shelters in general, including survivors of domestic violence.

Beginning in April, we started visiting shelters in Fukushima, making referrals for social services, and counseling survivors who were living in spaces lacking privacy such that they changed their clothes and breast-fed their infants in portable toilets. We launched a website "Kids' eyes, Kids' voices" to raise awareness and support the emotional wellness of children and youth in June. We organized a weekend evacuation camp for single mothers and their children, and facilitated workshops where they can explore their emotional needs safely with activities such as hiking, massage, and a youth talk salon, all of which in Fukushima, are extremely difficult."

--- Single Mother Forum Fukushima

Decontamination Work at Korean School

"We supported the evacuation of Zainichi Korean students in Korean schools who have not received support from the Japanese government in Niigata.

We supplied daily needs and materials for children to study, as well as monthly meal services. We have also conducted four decontaminations of the school building and its backyard using volunteers. Zainichi children from Fukushima bear the additional stress of being separated from their parents who remain in Fukushima."

---NPO Woori Hakkyo

For Re-Building a Community Center in Minami Sanriku

The name of our group, M3R-abc, comprised of local tsunami survivors, is affectionately named by the victims of the earthquake and tsunami. M3R is an abbreviation of "Minami Sanriku" (San is 3 in Japanese) combined with a reference to the basis of life, known as 'the ABC's.'

When the closing of the emergency shelters was fast approaching, we thought long and hard about all we had accomplished and wondered if it was right to let it all fade away. It is not enough to say that the whole town was destroyed, it must be said that the land, the buildings, the work, and everything imaginable was taken by the waves. In the overly crowded temporary housing where there is hardly room to breathe, survivors must be very patient and must wait for many years to come. We feel strongly that a center where survivors can share this pain and are able to form bonds with other like themselves is an absolute necessity.

This is only but a small droplet in a large stream of aid that must come. JMRF helped us launch and stabilize our operations where survivors can daily receive the support they need. So next, we are going to do our best to ensure that we can create a community center where this work can continue, and grow to meet the ongoing needs of our underserved residents.

---From an appeal signed by Amelia Sasaki, and Akemi Utsumi, both Minami Sanriku residents. (This appeal was translated by Victor Palacios.)

→ $53,167.59 raised

→ 7 immediate relief grants deployed

→ $44,435.34 in grant distributions

→ 7 grant recipient organizations on the ground in the disaster-struck regions

As we face 2012, we have gradually shifted our focus towards supporting recovery efforts for the long-haul. We are pleased to announce new projects that focus on improving living conditions of vulnerable communities through a community empowerment approach, and community-to-community partnerships between Japan and U.S. organizations.

The 'Minami-Sanriku Community Dining Center' Project: Catalyzing widespread collaboration across ethnic and cultural lines

By Red Gillen, JPRN Board Member

The creation of a multicultural community center will include meal services for underserved residents of the afflicted areas, with funding applied to a building structure, equipment, food purchases and staffing.

On one level, this community center will serve an important role of delivering much-needed nutrition to the community. It will be designed to serve 300 balanced meals daily, serving the area of Minamisanriku, which has a relatively elderly population. However, on another level, it will serve much different and role than the other community centers and/or soup kitchens already in place.

Specifically, this community center will be operated as a collaborative effort between Japanese and non-Japanese immigrant communities. The Japanese community involvement will be based on resources and personnel from municipal/quasi-governmental organizations. The non-Japanese community will be represented by a number (2 - 4) of female Filipina volunteers, one of which would serve in a leadership position. By working hand-in-hand with native Japanese on such a high-profile project, these immigrants will be seen as an integral part of the community, with their own committed desire to work towards its improvement.

This multicultural community center is expected to have a lasting, "spillover" effect, by accelerating slow-moving population trends. Over the last four decades, Japanese rural areas have been losing their younger populations to urban areas. To offset this population migration, male Japanese nationals have increasingly married non-Japanese immigrants. Despite their low profile, these immigrants have become a major building block in the community, supporting their husband's professions (e.g., farming), working part-time jobs and bringing children into declining populations. Given the lack of economic opportunities for men due to the disasters, there is considerable potential for these women to play stronger roles in the community.

Because of this, the community center would be an avenue for immigrant women to step into the limelight, to play a much-needed and welcome role in the community. In doing so, these immigrants will gain recognition of their until-now hidden contribution to Japanese society, and will thus be seen by native Japanese as true community members, and ideally be given even greater societal roles. As this population trend is not limited to Minamisanriku, but widespread throughout rural Japan, the multicultural community center can serve the role as an "incubator" for similar projects elsewhere. As such, the impact of this project will be measured and learnings will be gathered to replicate similar centers in other locales -- the objective being a broader transformation of Japanese rural society for greater Japanese/non-Japanese community integration.

Red has served on the Board of JPRN since 2005, and is a Senior Director at WebMD. He is fluent in Japanese and English.

JMRF is grateful for your generous support in 2011.

Individuals & Corporations

• Anonymous Donors (35)
• Abra P Castle & Eric L. Potashner
• Akane Nobusa
• Akiyo Kawabata
• Alex B Brant-Zawadzki
• Alexandra Suh
• Amana Oh
• Amie Kim
• Amin Miraftab
• Angela Kong
• Angelica Yanez
• Anita Sinha
• Anna Kim
• Annette S Koh
• Ashley Jacobs
• Ayako Sahara
• Benton Pang
• Bernice S Fischer
• Blue Scholars & Rocky Rivera
• Boyoung Kim
• Bozena M. Gilewska
• Brynna Jacobson
• Campbell-Westlind
• Caren Nguyen
• Carole Horowitz
• Caroline K. Little
• Catherine Pyun
• Cathleen Kozen
• Cathy Kora
• Chonlavat Udtamadilok
• Christina Solano
• Christine Chou
• Christine Hong
• Christopher G Lee & Emily E Campbell
• Claire DelBove
• Dana Kawaoka
• Darlene Cayabyab
• David F. Ebarle
• Denise M Hingle
• Dian E.C Mueller
• Dominic Martello
• Ener Chiu & Tiffany Eng
• Eric Martin
• Ernesto Gonzalez
• Evelyn Israel
• Frederick & Barbara B Feied
• Fumi Sugihara
• Gracelynne West
• Guy Stilson
• Hye Jung Park
• Irwin & Rita Blitt
• Isabella Haidle
• J. Erich Pearson
• Jack Jin Gary Lee
• James R Hanusa
• James Kwon
• James G. & May S. Lee
• Jane Kim
• Jane Lee
• Jaye Cho
• Jeffrey J. Baldwin
• Jennifer Kreitzer
• Jennifer Longley
• Jesus Solorio
• Jo Ann Lewis
• Joh Won
• Jonathon Siegel
• JPRN NPO Volunteer Experience Program Alumni Class of 2011
• Ju Hui Han
• Julia Liou
• Kanno Rei
• Kathleen M. Sum
• Kayoko Aoki
• Kimberly Grogan-Donner
• Kyung Hee Ha
• Leslie Wang
• Lianna Kushi
• Lisa J. Johnson
• Logan Laughlin
• Lou Gordon
• Ma Vang
• Maho Kuse
• Manami Yamamoto
• Maree Ness
• Margaret H Newell
• Marge Harburg TR
• Mari Kim
• Marie Clare O'Connor
• Marilisa Navarro
• Martha Matsuoka
• Maru Watts
• May Mui
• Megan Hamilton
• Melanie Cervantes
• Merry Tucker
• Meryl Siegal
• Michael C. Coe & Mary Wong Coe
• Michael Rohan
• Miho Kim
• Mike Avila
• Miyuki Yoshimura-Lee
• Nancy Dalwin
• Niall Twohig
• Ole Tustin
• Oliver Cannell
• Priscilla Jeffery
• Ralph Alpert
• Ralph Hosoki
• Raquel Pacheco
• Rebecca Vilkomerson
• Red Gillen
• Rita A Kresha & Susan S Vanderburgh
• Robert C. Raven & Anime Club of Vallejo High School
• Robin Lloyd
• Robynn Takayama
• Ryota Uchida
• Saba Waheed
• Sam Jung
• Sara Shim
• Savannah Kilner
• Seung Hye Suh
• Shana Swiss
• Sidney and Ethel B. Socolar
• Stacy Kono
• Sumiko Yamamoto
• Stella Kang
• Steph Lee
• Syngman Rhee & Haeson Lee
• Takashi Mizuno
• Tawny Tidwell
• Tehmina Jaffer
• Terry Park
• Virginia Louie
• Virginia Weihs
• Wendy Snyder
• Xavier Dphrepaulezz
• Yoshimi Oiwa
• Yoshiro Tasaka
• Yukari Ishizu and Akira
• Yumi Lee
• Yuriko Tanabe

In Memory Of

• Bentley and Watson Campbell-Westlind
  Cecilia Campbell-Westlind
• Gertrude Bernstein
  Bonnie Bermsteom
• Grandmother of Leeroy Kang
  Leeroy Kang
• Hassan Imam
  Hayat Imam
• Jang Manjin
  Edwin Bergmann
• Kiyoshi Kuromiya
  Julie Davids
• Manuel R. Miranda, PhD
  Susie Kang Boone
• Myung Soon Ha
  Haruki Eda
• Nathaniel Clark
  Gabriel Mendes
• Tom Tsutsumi
  Tiffany Bryan
• Tomoji Nishikawa
  Ken Louie-Nishikawa

In Honor Of

• Ayumi Suzuki
  David Leskowitz
• Kimiko Takahashi
  Kerry Forbord
• Kyung Hee Ha
  Joo Ok Kim
• Lawence
  Sally Berkhia
• Miho Kim
  Karen Anselmo
• Mr. & Mrs. Gilbert S. Avila
  Gilberta Avila

On Behalf Of

• Asian and Pacific Islander Prisoners' Anthology (Donation made from proceeds of book sales)
  Asian Prisoner Support Committee
• Beryl Booker Project
  Kent Brown
• Channing and Popai Liem Education
  Ramsay Liem
• Chapter Music
  Guy Blackman
• Fritz Fam
  Cindy Fritz
• Golden Shadow
  Jontz Johnson
• Hella Organized Bay Area Koreans
  Amie Kim
• Kanae Wada
  Olga Wennergren
• Kyung Hee Ha
  AnnJanette Rosga, Anthony Kim, Hyeon Ju Lee, Jini Shim, Mariola Alvarez, Sarah Shim
• Laura Yamaguchi
  Mani Yamaguchi
• Students at Pomona College/Asian American Resource Center/Blue Scholars & Rocky Rivera Concert Fundraiser
  Karin Mak
• The Haga and Hitomi Families
  Jennifer Durgi
• The Liem Family
  Yul-san Liem
• Umi Hagitani
  Annika Eriksson

Foundations

• Funding Exchange
• Levi Strauss Foundation
• Patricia Silver Fund of the Peace Development Fund
• The Benedictine Foundation of the State of Vermont, Inc
• The Esna Fund of Tides Foundation on the recommendation of Eleanore Despina and Bing Gong
• The Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund on the recommendation of the Sarah Farley and Betty Tisel Fund
• The Gratitude Fund at the East Bay Community Foundation
• Unitarian Universalist Service Committee

In-Kind Goods & Services

Berkeley Bowl Market
Berkeley, CA

Easy Copy Center
Berkeley, CA

Scott's Seafood Restaurant in Jack London Square
Oakland, CA

Supporter-hosted JMRF Fundraisers

Akira, Marie and Soliah's Bake Sale
May 1, 2011, Berkeley Bowl Market, Berkeley

Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple Benefit Concert on the recommendation of Cheonho Yoo
April 23, 2011, Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple, Los Angeles

Reach Across the Pacific: Youth Music for Japan Relief
June 12, 2011, Starry Plough, Berkeley

San Francisco Board of Supervisors Fundraiser
March 23, 2011, SOM, San Francisco

The Japan Multicultural Relief Fund (JMRF), a U.S.-based grantmaking program jointly established by Japan Pacific Resource Network (JPRN) and Eclipse Rising in March 2011 in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, is dedicated to the empowerment and leadership by and for Japan's vulnerable communities in the post Tohoku disaster region in Japan towards an inclusive and multicultural Japanese society.