IILA History
In 1914 the International Institute of Los Angeles was established by the YWCA to “serve women and girls coming from Europe and the Orient and to assist the foreign communities in their adjustment to life in this country.” One of the earliest projects was to meet “Japanese Picture Brides” at the LA Harbor and help them resettle into their new lives in Los Angeles.
In the early 1920s IILA provided sewing classes, job-training classes, and employment counseling and placement for immigrant women to help them become self-sufficient. In the 1920s IILA began clubs for French and English war brides – this club movement continued with Japanese and Jewish youth clubs, and numerous other ethnic clubs throughout the years.
Japanese clients donated plants for the garden. The IILA headquarters in Boyle Heights became the focus of numerous cultural events as well as a service center for the surrounding immigrant communities.
During the 1930’s the widespread lack of employment deeply impacted immigrants. The Institute provided relief to local immigrant communities through the Family Welfare Association. The federal government paid for unemployed women and teachers to work at the institute as teachers, club leaders and office assistants.
In the early 1940s the institute led an effort to protest the proposed evacuation of Japanese and Japanese-American citizens. In early December 1941 after the evacuation was declared, the institute donated $4,000 in emergency relief to Japanese families who were evacuated from Terminal Island. In one panicked week the institute helped more than 1,500 “enemy aliens” submit applications for certificates of identity. Later, the institute helped develop programs for education, recreation, and social services within the Japanese relocation camps.
After World War II, the institute helped resettle refugees from the Soviet Union countries who were admitted to the United States under the Displaced Persons Act. In 1953 IILA began the East European Project with funding from the Ford Foundation.
In the 1960’s the institute worked with Cuban Refugees who came to Los Angeles following the revolution in Cuba.
In the 1970s the institute began its senior services programs in East Los Angeles by setting up senior dining centers and meals on wheels, and by providing social services for seniors. In the 1970s IILA also began its childcare/preschool program at the Boyle location. In 1975 IILA began a large Vietnamese refugee resettlement program in Southern California.
In 1982 the Aliso Pico Multipurpose Center was opened to provide family and youth services in Boyle Heights.
In the 1990s the Immediate Needs transportation Program was funded by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Agency to provide transportation services to people in need in the wake of the Los Angeles 1992 civil unrest.
In 1994 El Rinconcito del Sol, an adult respite care program was opened in Boyle Heights. In 1994 the Fresno and Merced offices were opened to provide refugee services to newly arriving Hmong refugees from Thailand.
In 1997 the corporate offices moved to 3845 Selig Place in Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles.
In 1999 IILA initiated the Refugee and Immigrant Training and Employment (RITE) program in El Monte, Burbank, Van Nuys and Selig, providing case management and job placement for refugees and immigrants in Los Angeles County.
In 2000 IILA purchased a commercial kitchen for the child nutrition division.
In 2002 the Don Dollries & Al Ross staff scholarship program was adopted. IILA collaborated with Japanese-American National Museum staff in developing a national exhibit titled Boyle Heights: Power of Place.
In 2003 IILA launched a new First 5 LA School Readiness Initiative for preschool children living in the El Sereno area of Los Angeles City. The program included an IILA mobile library, and was designed to reach out to hundreds of children and parents living in the area.
In 2004 the Child Development Division split off a new division, Alternative Payment Program Division, due to growth in child development programs.
In 2004 and 2005 IILA was awarded three citizenship assistance grants. The institute also opened two offices in Fresno and Merced to resettle over 1,100 Hmong refugees coming from Thailand. The annual budget reached $20 million, which was one thousand times the 1933 IILA budget.
In 2005 Cathay Bank golf tournament doubled its annual donation to IILA to $10,000.
In 2006 IILA opened an office in Glendale to help resettle religious minorities refugees coming from Iran.
