Today, Washington is home to the highest population of Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders (NH/PI) in the U.S., outside of Hawai’i and California. As such, PICA-WA works in various regions of Washington providing no cost support services and programs to engage and support Pacific Islander communities across the state.
Home to one of the largest NH/PI communities in the United States.
Our Polynesian, Micronesian, and Melanesian communities first made Western Washington their home 200 years ago and have continued to build home here on Coast Salish land. More than half of the state’s NH/PI population have made Snohomish, King, Pierce and Thurston counties their home away from home. The oldest Pasifika church institutions are all in Western Washington.
Southwest Washington has a unique history of being a suburb of Portland and has attracted a large portion of our NH/PI communities who often travel into Portland for employment and return home to SW Washington where they have settled due to more accessible housing.
While our Southwest Washington NH/PI communities are made up of our diverse Pacific Islander communities, our Chuukese community from the Federated States of Micronesia have built large networks and made Clark and Cowlitz County their home away from home.
Spokane County in Eastern Washington is home to the second largest Marshallese population in the U.S. continent, second only to Arkansas
It is also home to many of our Chuukese, Samoan and Native Hawaiian families as well. Spokane County has seen the exponential growth of our NH/PI population, who have emigrated to there due to employment opportunities. Existing barriers to healthcare and lack of insurance enrollment continues to drive negative consequences that our local community currently suffers.
Elders engagement program providing space for social connection, cultural practice, and healthy wellbeing.
Region: Western WA
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Food distribution program aiming to supplement our families facing food insecurity.
Region: Western, SW WA
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Coalition of Pacific Islander leaders across the state leading advocacy efforts on behalf of our communities.
Region: Statewide
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Direct support in navigating systems and accessing services to address social determinants of health.
Region: Western, SW, Eastern WA
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Services and in-house programs to help our young people get set up for a healthy, positive, and culturally-grounded future.
Region: Western, SW WA
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