Thai Community Development Center

LA2050 will fund the Thai Town Marketplace (TTMP), a new approach to urban revitalization and an innovative “green” community market. Creating the first “Health/Wealth Zone”, the TTMP will deliberately link health and economic outcomes, help low-income residents start their first business, create 18 businesses every three years and over 60 jobs, teach vendors financial and health literacy, host monthly health and information booths for visitors at our nearby farmers’ market, and make local organizations’ social services more accessible.

Operating two East Hollywood Certified Farmers Markets which we opened since 2012 to address food insecurity and increase access to affordable fresh produce among disadvantaged communities, Thai CDC seeks to open a third market in East Hollywood to further combat hunger, poor diet, and chronic diseases. Our markets provide Market Matches to individuals on public benefits doubling their purchasing power and increasing their consumption of fresh produce for an improved health. Our public benefit enrollments also creates a safety net for the poor.

Thai CDC will organize Thai immigrant workers who will lay the groundwork necessary to start an immigrant workers' center that will be worker built and led. The center will transcend ethnic lines and organize workers across ethnic lines and service industries. However, it will be the first worker center in the country with the linguistic and cultural competency to serve Thai workers whose continuing invisibility, isolation, and marginalization only worsens their working conditions and undermines their ability to pursue justice.