SEVA Immigrant Community Advocacy Project
Gurpal Singh & Ravisharon Kaur, Co-Founders
SEVA Immigrant Community Advocacy Project (SEVA) responds to the socio-economic and resource needs of the South Asian and West Indian neighborhoods of Richmond Hill, Ozone Park, and Woodhaven, Queens, whose residents include South Asian immigrants who arrived in the 1970s as well as newer arrivals from South Asia, Guyana, Trinidad, and Suriname.
SEVA’s principal strategy is to educate and train residents as community organizers to achieve needed social, economic, and political change. Young people participate in educational forums and leadership trainings, as well as other activities. Seniors benefit from workshops and information in home-country languages, and SEVA has a five-year plan to create a senior center in the neighborhood. Girls and women make up almost 50% of the members; an intergenerational group of them meet regularly.
Civic engagement is a priority, and SEVA organizes voter registration drives and town-hall style meetings with local elected officials.