Organization

Cambodian Association of Illinois (CAI)


The Cambodian Association of Illinois (CAI) is a nonprofit social service organization in Chicago, founded by Cambodian refugee volunteers in 1976.[1] It began by helping newly arrived Cambodian refugees settle in the Chicago area. Its work has since grown to include preserving and teaching Cambodian culture and remembering the Cambodian genocide.[2][3] As of 2026, it serves about 5,000 Cambodians in Illinois, 3,000 of them in the Chicago area, most of them refugees or the children of refugees.[1]

History

The association's own timeline traces it to July 1975, when a Cambodian Association of Illinois was set up in Downers Grove with General Sor Boun as president, Yokuy Khoun as vice president and Prak Sunary as secretary. That first group lasted until May 30, 1976, when it was reorganized.[4] In September 1975 it joined the Cambodian Association of America in forming the Cambodian Federation Association in Iowa, in response to the resettlement of Cambodian refugees under the U.S. State Department. The Khmer Cluster Project was formed to bring thousands of Cambodian refugees from Thailand and the Philippines to states across the country.[4]

On May 30, 1976, three refugees, Prak Sunary (also spelled Prak Sunay), Kompha Seth and Khoun Lorn, founded the Cambodian Association of America, Illinois Chapter, in Glen Ellyn, as president, vice president and secretary.[4][5] The volunteers worked with the Chicago Office of Refugee Resettlement.[6] At first the group had no office and met in Cambodian homes in Chicago and the western suburbs. It sponsored refugees and connected newcomers with Cambodians who had arrived earlier. Kompha Seth personally backed 30 refugee families, partly with his pay as a corrections officer at the Joliet Correctional Center.[5]

Under the Refugee Act of 1980, the association opened its first office that year on the second floor of 1105 West Lawrence Avenue in Uptown, across the street from the Aragon Ballroom. It offered comprehensive social services in cooperation with the Cambodian Federation Association and the Khmer Cluster Project.[4][5] The Encyclopedia of Chicago dates its formal incorporation to 1980.[6] That year it created a Mutual Assistance Association (MAA), with help from the Department of Public Aid and Dr. Edwin B. Silverman, and from the Jewish Federation and Pamela Sue Burt.[4] In October 1980 Sunary Prak was hired as the first full-time executive director and half-time secretary, with Nara Chan as half-time secretary, under the presidency of Nhek Nhim.[4]

The early work was practical. Staff taught English, found jobs for refugees and helped them learn American culture and food. Newcomers used to open-air markets or refugee-camp rations learned to shop for groceries and rent apartments, and in the first winters Seth took late-night calls from people who needed blankets or help turning on the heat.[5][3] The association also began teaching Cambodian dance and Khmer language classes.[5] In November 1981 the board asked Kompha Seth to serve for a time as its second executive director, expecting him to return to Asian Human Service of Chicago once the situation improved.[4] A DePaul University oral history dates his time as executive director from 1981.[7]

By 1983 the association had grown enough to separate from the Cambodian Association of America. That year, during Chhun Chip's presidency, it took the name Cambodian Association of Illinois.[5][4] In 1984 it became a founding member of the Coalition of Limited English-Speaking Elderly (CLESE), which served seniors who could not speak English. A Retirement Research Foundation grant let it open a Senior Home Care Program for Cambodian seniors in the Chicago area in 1986.[4] In October 1988 it hosted the first national Cambodian conference, at the Ramada Inn near O'Hare, to found the National Cambodian Network Council, with Dr. Kol Pheng as president.[4] In 1999 it sponsored the Cambodian Traditional Dance Troupe, the Khmer Future Leaders Project and the Cambodian Youth Council, to keep Cambodian culture alive among the first generation born in America.[6]

The association bought its building at 2831 West Lawrence Avenue in 1998 and moved its office there in December 1999.[5][4] In 2000 a second Retirement Research Foundation grant paid for a community needs assessment focused on seniors and survivors, for board and staff development, and for a Senior Drop-In Center.[4] The Campaign for Hope and Renewal, dated 2000 by the Chicago Reader and 2001 by the association's timeline, raised more than $1 million to renovate and expand the building and to build a Killing Fields Memorial as part of the drop-in center.[5][4] In 2003 CAI became a founding member of the National Khmer American Health Initiative (NKHAHI), based in Connecticut, which sought national funding with other Cambodian social service groups to serve genocide survivors.[4] Construction ended in 2004, and the Cambodian American Heritage Museum and Killing Fields Memorial opened on the building's first floor.[5][4]

In 2010 Dary Mien was promoted to become the third executive director, and CAI hosted the founding of the National Cambodian American Organization (NCAO), based in Vancouver, Washington.[4] In 2014 Anneth Houy, who had come to Chicago in 1989 from the Khao-I-Dang refugee camp in Thailand, cofounded the Khmer Support Giving Circle at CAI.[5] In 2015 the board again asked Kompha Seth to help for a time while it looked for his replacement. That year the museum gained its own 501(c)(3) status as the National Cambodian Heritage Museum and Killing Fields Memorial, while remaining part of CAI.[4][2] Between 2015 and 2021 CAI paid off the mortgage on its building and began a Cambodian history initiative for young people, linking Khmer pride and identity to ancient Khmer inscriptions in the United States and Cambodia.[4]

Museum and memorial

The National Cambodian Heritage Museum and Killing Fields Memorial is dedicated to celebrating Cambodian culture and is also meant as a place to heal.[8] It gave Cambodian culture a permanent home in Chicago and a way to teach younger Cambodians and the public about the Khmer Rouge genocide.[5] As of 2018 it served as CAI's headquarters, with a gift shop and a research library on Cambodia, Cambodian Americans, Buddhism and the Khmer language.[3] A two-story bas relief in classical Cambodian style stands at the entrance.[5]

The permanent exhibit, "Remembering the Killing Fields," opened in fall 2011. It shows life under the Khmer Rouge and tells the stories of survivors living in the Chicago area.[5] The Chicago Reader credits the exhibit with inspiring Governor Pat Quinn to name an annual Cambodian Day of Remembrance in Illinois, the first state to do so. It is held on the first Saturday in April.[5] The Killing Fields Memorial fills a dark room on the north side of the museum. It has 80 glass panels, each 1.8 meters (six feet) tall, set in four rows along a wall and backlit in purple. Each panel stands for 25,000 Cambodians killed under the Khmer Rouge and is etched with victims' names. A black stone pillar carries a white lotus and the words "we continue our journey with compassion understanding and wisdom."[5] The Chicago Reader called it the nation's only monument to the victims of the Khmer Rouge genocide.[5]

In 2016 the museum hosted "The Forced Transfer," a traveling show from the Documentation Center of Cambodia, on June 5, and planned to show the photographer Pete Pin's "Migration of Memory" later that year.[5] By 2025 it held cultural performances and music and art classes on Saturdays.[9]

Programs

CAI calls itself the only nonprofit in the Chicago area offering bilingual programs for the linked social and economic needs of Cambodian Americans.[1] Its services have included senior health programs, child and youth services, family health, citizenship help and employment.[7] The Hope and Renewal Senior Program works with the Illinois Department of Aging to help older adults stay healthy and independent. The Holistic Health program offers outreach and counseling and connects the community with health and service providers.[8] CAI and the museum also run a cultural arts program with lessons in traditional dance, music and language.[3]

The Children and Youth program serves more than 70 young people aged 6 to 24, some of them children or grandchildren of Cambodian refugees.[10] An after-school program on Tuesdays and Thursdays gives children aged 6 to 12, most of them in Chicago Public Schools, homework help and tutoring in reading, writing and math. High school and college students earn service hours as peer mentors. Quarterly Youth and Family Days, with about 20 people each, have included a family trip to the Brookfield Zoo, cooking workshops and science experiments.[10] The eight-week summer camp for ages 6 to 12 teaches literacy, fitness, creative writing and Cambodian arts, culture and history. Teenagers aged 13 to 15 serve as junior counselors, and young people aged 16 to 24 are hired to plan and lead activities.[10] In 2017 the camp, on the theme "Health and Culture," had 31 campers, four junior counselors and six counselors. Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago provided breakfast and lunch, and the summer ended with a community talent show of cultural dance and artwork.[10]

In 2016 Anneth Houy ran the Youth Program and the Culture and Healing Arts Program, which held three music classes and two dance classes a week along with after-school activities and camps.[5] The Khmer Support Giving Circle is a peer-support group for people aged 15 to 34 that helps young people understand their identities and provides money and volunteers for the local Cambodian community. It meets every other Thursday evening at CAI in summer, fall and spring sessions, with workshops, civic engagement, field trips and guest speakers.[5][10]

Community

Under Kompha Seth, the association moved away from its early refugee services toward renewing and teaching Cambodian culture.[5] Punisa Pov, who teaches music at the museum, told WTTW of a performance through CAI in which two girls danced to music sung by their mother and grandmother. "Culture can be a way for the generations to connect," she said.[9]

Leadership (2026)

Board and staff listed on the association's website in 2026.[1]

Board
  • Thavrin Chong, president
  • Laura Ouk, vice president and special event chair
  • Zachariah (Sinath), secretary
  • Solinna Chong, treasurer
  • Sophath Cindy Sath, chair, building committee
  • Sarom, member
  • Joshua Loeung, member
  • Saravuth Nop, member
  • Sony Watsela, member
Board advisors
  • Kompha Seth
  • Chip Chhun, IC Committee chair
  • Prak Sunnary
  • Jeff Sophorn Loeung
  • Sochetra
  • Tung
  • Leon Lim
Staff
  • Chenda Taing, executive director
  • Kaoru Watanabe, associate director
  • Sokhom Nuth, assistant director, finance
  • Saroeun Soeun, Holistic Health Program director
  • Chhun Singha, Community Care Program director
  • Nen Sok, director of community relations and Community Care Program supervisor
  • Sokha Cheng, Community Care Program supervisor
  • Tola C. Khou, Community Care Program supervisor
  • Anneth Houy, Children and Youth Program director
  • Krisnarith Avila-Franco, billing and collection manager
  • Deth Nov, housekeeper

Press

  • Chicago Reader, "The Cambodian Association of Illinois celebrates 40 years by looking ahead" (2016)[5]
  • WTTW, on Punisa Pov's music classes at the museum[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Cambodian Association of Illinois, About
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 National Cambodian Heritage Museum and Killing Fields Memorial, History
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Clio, National Cambodian Heritage Museum & Killing Fields Memorial (2018)
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 Cambodian Association of Illinois, Timeline
  5. ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16 5.17 5.18 5.19 5.20 Chicago Reader, The Cambodian Association of Illinois celebrates 40 years by looking ahead (2016)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Encyclopedia of Chicago, Cambodians
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 DePaul University, Kompha Seth interview about the Cambodian Association of Illinois (2013)
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Cambodian Association of Illinois, home page
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Dean's Team, Neighborhood News: Albany Park's National Cambodian Heritage Museum is "a one of a kind experience" (May 22, 2025)
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Cambodian Association of Illinois, Children and Youth
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This page was last edited on 26 September 2026, at 23:15.