News updates: Alliance of Philippine Community Organisations Inc.

Kapit-bahayan Co-op Treasurer Awarded

By Richard J. Ford (PRO-APCO Inc)
Sydney-Australia
September 26, 2016



Mrs de Luna is the treasurer of the very successful community housing since Pablo Lee took over the chairmanship of the Board of Directors of KCL from founding president Ruben Amores a few years ago. Mr Lee was himself for many years the treasurer of KCL which was founded in 1997 to provide affordable accommodations to families with low and medium incomes. 

KCL which is managed voluntarily by the tenants is the only Filipino-Australian organisation that received the ABS-CBN Global Bayaning Filipino Award in Southern Hemisphere. It is also the only voluntarily tenant managed housing coop that is able to expand their housing stocks by using their savings (sweat equity).

---

APCO founder elected President of Cumberland multicultural federation

By Richard J. Ford (PRO-APCO Inc)
NSW-Australia
September 26, 2016


She served as People of Australia Ambassador, ZEST Ambassador and awarded as Most Outstanding Community Leader (on voluntary capacity) for Greater Western Sydney.  Cen was a Philippine state university professor, TAFE teacher and employment consultant/trainer and a now a fulltime community volunteer and development worker. 

Organised by community leaders and volunteer workers of small and emerging communities in collaboration with the Auburn Council in 2007 to collectively work harmoniously for common community needs and concerns, ASCON has grown to 42 organisational members including APCO and Kapitbahayan Coop. Ruben Amores, President Emeritus of KCL was the founding chair while Dr Amores was Public Officer. ASCON is the first awardee of the Jim Samios Memorial Award of NSW Ethnic Communities Council Inc for its Outstanding Contribution to Multiculturalism and had garnered many performance-based awards for the organisation, for the Auburn Council and the Council’s Community Development Team for the many very successful projects and activity initiatives.

Among ASCON’s projects are: Flavours of Auburn traditional food festival and its spin-offs (cultural food tours, healthy cookbooks, cooking classes, food handling trainings) Regents Park Community Organisational Hub, Refugee Camp in my Neighbourhood, Discount insurance for members, social welfare advocacy and lobbying, Connect to Work Project, My First Job Youth Employment Project, etc. ASCON is currently actively engaged with the new Cumberland Administration in formulating its various strategic and development plans to make sure that the newly amalgamated council will be effectively and efficiently addressing the local resident’s actual needs and dreams