Established over 32 years ago, the India Association of Western Washington (IAWW) has a long-standing connection to the community it serves. The organization focuses on youth, community, and seniors.
Being an Eastside Pathways partner has inspired IAWW to do things differently. For example, learning about the Community Café model has led them to explore the idea of hosting a Youth Community Café. Eastside Pathways has also provided a forum for IAWW to connect with other agencies serving the local community, and the sharing of ideas and learnings from other agencies has been invaluable.
More about IAWW:
- The Youth Program provides various opportunities for youth to engage in charitable and civic service. The Youth Board is a platform where 30 youth come together to create a team of leaders who train over the year for various service projects to evolve into youth counselors. They then plan a five-day stay-away camp for over 200 children from the Greater Seattle area called Camp Bharat. The emphasis is on the value of intergenerational and intercultural service.
- The Community Program strives to provide a physical space, services, classes, and community forums to serve individuals across generations. Currently IAWW has varied programming such as chair yoga, ANVI (a Professional Indian Women’s Network), Bollywood Fitness, Bridge, Book club and other community events appealing to all ages every Thursday at North Bellevue Community Center.
- The Senior Program is a forum for senior interaction and mutual support provided through a monthly lunch as well as an annual senior health fair, picnic, support group, and workshops.
IAWW also provides cultural programming throughout the year with their main events being Diwali, Republic Day, and India Day.
IAWW is 100% volunteer run with no funding sources other than community donations and membership dues. They count on a volunteer staff that provides hundreds of hours each month to enable IAWW to put together relevant programming for the community.
Interested in getting involved with IAWW?
- Participate in the varied programming– visit their website for updated schedule of events.
Everyone is welcome! - Become a member, volunteer or sponsor an event.
- Like them on Facebook
- Donate
Article written by Rita Badh, Outreach Specialist at India Association of Western Washington