2013 ACDC Annual Meeting Looks Forward to One Greenway

By David Li, bostonese.com

Boston, Nov. 20, 2013, — Over 250 guests attended Asian Community Development Corporation (ACDC)’s annual meeting and dinner on Nov 12, 2013 at Hei La Moon restaurant in Chinatown. The theme of the evening was “A Hudson Street Reunion.” There were many guests with family connections to Hudson street, site of the highly anticipated One Greenway project.

Former Hudson street resident, Prof. Tunney Lee delivers keynote speech (all photos provided by ACDC).

The Asian Community Development Corporation (ACDC), a 26-year old community-based non-profit organization, serves the Asian American community of Greater Boston, with an emphasis on preserving and revitalizing Boston’s Chinatown. ACDC develops physical community assets, including affordable housing for rental and ownership; promotes economic development; fosters youth leadership development; builds capacity within the community and advocates on behalf of the community.

[gallery ids="11209,11208,11206"] After welcome speech by Paul W. Lee, ACDC Board President, partner at Goodwin Procter and former Hudson Street resident, Janelle Chan delivered ACDC 2013 annual report. She used a video to show some of the little-known history of Hudson street. Tunney Lee, Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also a former Hudson Street resident, was the keynote speaker. He provided a brief synopsis of the history, culture and life of Hudson Street to the audience. He mentioned that a lot of poor residents on Hudson street were displaced 50 years becaise of the highway projects. He was very excited about the One Greenway project, which will add over 300 residential units to Chinatown, including many affordable housing units. Notable attendees included Hubie Jones, Dean Emeritus of Boston University School of Social Work, and Margaret Yamamoto, former Director of Community Programs, WGBH. Corporate sponsors of the event included Boston Private Bank & Trust Company, Klein Hornig LLP, Maloney Properties, Inc., Oak Terrace L.P., Davis Malm & D’Agostine, P.C., Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, and Tufts University Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service. Guests were treated to a 10-course Chinese banquet dinner with complimentary beer sponsored by Sapporo USA. Janelle Chan presented awards to this year’s honorees. Michael Tow, New Boston Financial, immediate past president of ACDC, co-founder of ACDC’s annual golf getaway and local Boston actor, received ACDC’s Inspiration Award. Hon Choy Chan, Jackson Home Inspection, received the Outstanding Housing Educator Award. Cankang Wu, Hudson Street resident and a sophomore at Boston’s Excel High School and Shu Qi Ke, sophomore at North Quincy High School, received the Outstanding Youth Volunteer awards. Both were part of ACDC’s summer program A-VOYCE and instrumental to the success of ACDC’s 8th annual Films at the Gate event this past summer. Henry Yee, co-president of Chinatown Resident Association, received the Neil Chin Community Leader Award. Mr. Yee is a long time advocate for affordable housing in Chinatown neighborhood.

Chun Hau Chen, one of ACDC’s Comprehensive Housing Opportunities Program (CHOP) graduates, spoke to the audience about ACDC’s first-time homebuyer’s workshops. He said how the CHOP workshops and individual housing counseling prepared him to successfully purchase his first home in Boston this past August 2013. Chinatown resident Sunny Su said that she was really happy to attend the annual meeting. She mentioned that ACDC has contributed a lot to the development of Boston Chinatown over the years.

According to Jean Quintal, ACDC has developed over $110 million in mixed-use real estate that is home to over 900 residents in Boston and Quincy, and provides housing counseling and homebuyer workshops throughout the year. The Parcel 24 project on Hudson Street has been renamed to One Greenway earlier this year. For more information, please visit www.asiancdc.org.