Jes Phillip found her calling when she was denied college admission and employment because universities and employers didn’t understand her unique citizenship status.
“I was kind of tired of doing all these unnecessary things to prove my citizenship status,” said Phillip, a native of the Chuuk State in the Federated States of Micronesia, whose citizens are eligible to work in the United States indefinitely. “Dealing with it as my everyday problem when I moved here was overwhelmingly tiring. And I couldn’t imagine my people going through this, especially those who have limited English.”
Since then, Phillip has been on a mission to uplift and advocate for underserved communities, especially the Micronesian community. She now helps young people overcome the barriers that initially stymied her and educates the unfamiliar about Oregon’s Pacific Islander community.
“I realized I couldn’t just give up and let it be,” Phillip said.
Phillip told her story to the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners Thursday as it celebrated the contributions and resilience of the Asian and Pacific Islander communities by proclaiming May as Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in Multnomah County.
Oregon is home to a vast Asian and Pacific Islander community — including people descended from Asia and the Pacific Islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia — that includes more than 60,000 people in Multnomah County, alone.
The proclamation was sponsored by Commissioner Lori Stegmann.
“As a Korean American and the first Asian to serve on the Board, today’s proclamation is especially meaningful to me,” Stegmann said. “By honoring our roles in history, we are able to reflect on our accomplishments and pave the way for future leaders within our API communities.”
Phillip and other speakers thanked the board for investing in programs and services that improve the lives of Asian and Pacific Islander communities.
Last week, for instance, Multnomah County joined a host of community organizations at the inaugural Pasifika Health Fair and Blood Drive, hosted by United Territories of Pacific Islanders Alliance Portland. The County provided lead screenings, HIV education and maternal, child and family health information services.
“During this health fair, we were so surrounded and supported by people who help the community in different ways,” Lilian Ongelungel told the board. “I hope that that support continues for Pacific Islander people… because I feel like here, we have the opportunity to build a legacy and I would love to be part of that in the future.”
Speakers also challenged the board to broaden and deepen its investment in the Asian and Pacific Islander communities.
PSU professor Alma Trinidad said board members could improve on their efforts by designing programs, policies and services that reflect human experience; by integrating the cultural values of communities in decision making; and by inviting communities to help bring meaning to the data collected about them.
Existing data, Stegmann pointed out, often treats Asians and Pacific Islanders as a homogenous group despite their vast cultural and language differences. That practice has resulted in a dearth of baseline information about health behavior and disparities for the diverse groups.
“Many times the issues facing our communities are glossed over,” Stegmann said. “The more we can disaggregate the data and analyze the unique challenges that face our diverse communities, the better we can close the disparities.”
Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2019 includes funding for an equity study on the Pacific Island community. The budget invests in a new partnership between the Health Department and Pacific Islander community to gather qualitative and quantitative data to understand the community’s needs, gaps and opportunities.
That budget request, which will be considered on May 31, was prompted by a meeting Kafoury had with the Pacific Islander Coalition last year.