|
|
|
|
New York and New Jersey have embraced an increasing presence of Tibetan immigrants who now number over 5,000, the largest concentration of Tibetans in the United States and in the western world. Members of the Tibetan community engage in a diverse range of economic, social, and cultural pursuits and contribute to the richly patterned mosaic that is New York. Our mission is to provide a venue where much-needed social services and educational programs are made available to the Tibetan community. We believe this venture will help provide stability for the furthering and sharing of Tibet’s unique culture as well as allow immigrants a facility where they can transition into, participate in, and contribute to civic life in the United States.
Tibetan Americans are demonstrating a growing interest in preserving and sharing their unique cultural heritage, both for the benefit of our children as well as for the community at large that has generously taken us in as immigrants. While we have confidence in the strength of our culture and its values, we also want to be proactive and bolster our distinct cultural heritage to ensure its longevity for future generations. For an informative power point presentation about the Tibetan Community Center project, please click here.
The Center will be owned, operated and managed professionally by the TCNYNJ and operated by a qualified, full-time, Tibetan staff.
|
The TCNYNJ welcomes you to our web site. We encourage you to read about our progress as we work to
realize our dream of building a Community Center in New York City. We invite you to join our effort and
participate in the many exciting upcoming programs and events.
Return to top
New York City and its cultural surroundings have been most welcoming of and receptive
to Tibetans, who have clustered to the point of now reaching a critical mass. This is a vibrant,
creative community of all ages and with a wide range of specific needs. Currently we are using
voluntary services and rental spaces in scattered locations and on an ad-hoc basis to provide
current educational and cultural programs. For example, our weekend language and culture
program for Tibetan children, with over 180 enrolled students, takes place in rented space
in Manhattan. Larger performance and conference venues are rented in different locations in
Manhattan and Queens.The disparate rental locations and frequent relocations are disruptive
to programming, particularly for children, and thus the urgent, practical need for a
permanent community center is clear.
The TCNYNJ has an opportunity to serve as a leader and model to the rest of the Tibetan
communities in the United States and around the world by developing a Community Center
that will both galvanize Tibetans in the region and reach out to friends of Tibet and
the greater community at large. We plan to showcase issues that are important for both
Tibetans and a national audience by promoting events and conferences for peace and
human rights causes. The NY/NJ Tibetan community hopes to become truly the Little Tibet
of the east coast of the United States where all Tibetanswill feel at home.