LAAL NYC

Laal provides resources that Bengali womxn need to live healthy, engaged, and joyful lives. Founded by two Bangladeshi womxn -- one first generation and one newly immigrated-- from the Norwood neighborhood in the Bronx, Laal was created in direct response to the lack of resources and physical space dedicated to Bangladeshi womxn in Norwood. It is a community organization that caters to the specific needs of Bengali womxn by working to find culturally competent and nuanced solutions to barriers; and, striving to address the high levels of domestic violence, mental health illnesses and gender inequity in their community. In the wake of COVID-19 as the pandemic forced the world to evaluate how it was impacted, Laal’s data analytics team spearheaded a comprehensive demographic survey to obtain key metrics and information about household size, income, economic impact of COVID-19, and other general community needs. Results from this demographic survey illustrate the economic uncertainty faced by families. This survey provided significant findings and counted over 554 individuals from the Bangladeshi community in Norwood for the Census 2020. It revealed that for an average family of 4, over 33.3% of respondents have self-reported a combined household income of between $20,000 and $30,000. Additionally, over 72% of respondents reported they are not currently employed. Also, according to the Asian American Federation, Bangladeshis are the poorest Asian ethnic group compared to other Asians. Findings from Laal’s needs-based assessment revealed that over 97% of the women wanted a conversational English class; they made it clear in the surveys that they felt uncomfortable communicating in English because it would not “come out of their mouths.” The results also showed that more than 56% of the women were married before they finished Metric (which is the equivalent to HS graduation) and 12% were married at 15 or younger. Bengali womxn have been treated as second class citizens — culturally, systematically, and institutionally — and isolated, as a minority, from a community within which they are such integral members and caregivers. Issues within and without the community go ignored because of a lack of knowledge and access. They, therefore, lack dedicated and safe spaces to congregate and the resources to adjust to a thriving lifestyle in New York City. This is where Laal steps in.