Growing Up Brown: Memoirs of a Filipino American

18. Community Based

18 Community Based LATE IN 1989, WE PURCHASED A MODEST TWOstory home in a large residential development in Daly City, eight miles from San Francisco.At the time of its construction,afterWorld War II,the housing development was ahead of its time.Now,it simply looked like an unending series of similar boxy homes.We chose Daly City because the price of houses in San Francisco, the highest in the country, was beyond our reach.We thought of the house as an investment,with Cheryl and Philip and their girls renting from us.It was a win-win situation for all of us.Terri and I also considered the house a hedge against the job uncertainties of political appointments .Perhaps it was prophetic.Following the announcement of my resignation from the Human Resources Commission,we already had a home to move into. The house,at 49 Pinehaven Street,was located only a few blocks from Daly City’s huge Westlake Shopping Center. The backyard abutted on a greenbelt, which meant we did not have neighbors behind us. But although the newly renovated house was large enough to accommodate all of us,the rooms were on the small side. In addition, the large backyard was overgrown with weeds, with no sign of a lawn.That didn’t seem like a major problem,however,considering our love of gardening. Daly City was also home to a large Filipino community. With 35 percent of the population, Filipinos constituted its largest ethnic minority.It was fitting that my next job should be with an organization that served a large number of Filipinos. Asian American Recovery Services (AARS) was a community-based nonprofit agency in San Francisco providing substance-abuse services. AARS targeted Cambodians, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Laotians, and Vietnamese in addition to Filipinos.Its staff reflected the pan-Asian composition of the community. The agency had initiated a nationwide search for an executive director in the summer of 1990. Several members of the Asian community contacted me to determine my possible interest. In light of the problems I was experiencing in San Francisco at the time, the job was somewhat attractive. However , the announced salary level for the work was much too low. I declined to become a candidate. After the nationwide search failed to attract suitable applicants, AARS issued a new announcement. This time, the salary was more appropriate to the position and better matched my personal expectations. On October 30, 1990, seven days after I submitted my letter of resignation to the Human Rights Commission,I applied for the position of executive director at Asian American Recovery Services. The agency was relatively new, having been organized in 1985. It was much smaller than the multimillion-dollar programs I had previously directed, with a budget of around $2 million and a staff of sixty-five. It also had undergone several changes in executive directors, both clinical psychologists, in the five years of its existence . The board of directors had dwindled to the bare minimum, which was of concern to me. At the same time, I was intrigued by the possibility of working in a community-based nonprofit with a record of serving Filipinos. Except for United Way, all my employment experiences had been with public agencies. As I prepared for my job interview on December 11, I was not sure what to expect. I wondered about the degree of professionalism at AARS, particularly in view of its newness and the relatively small size of its budget and staff. I need not have been concerned. The three-person interview panel, under the leadership of board president Nelson Holl, followed a professional and structured format based on the agency’s priorities. Nelson, in particular, was knowledgeable about the operation of a nonprofit organization,having served as the interim executive director for most of the year. community based 291 During the job interview, I had the distinct impression that Nelson , a recovering addict who had helped found AARS, wanted to make sure that the organization hired an executive director who would succeed in continuing his work. From the outset, it was clear that panel members were seeking a person with a record of accomplishment in top-level administration . Specifically, they wanted someone well versed in the prudent management of financial resources, knowledgeable about obtaining grants and contracts, capable of collaborating with other agencies and representing the organization before funding sources, and prepared to provide leadership within the Asian community.These were...