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Help
LITTLE MANILA RISING make history!
Support LMR’s renovation of a historic property so we can establish an invaluable service hub for South Stockton.
Our History
The Little Manila Historic District was once home to the largest population of Filipinos outside the Philippines. Most Stocktonians grow up not knowing what was once there. Redlining, urban redevelopment, and the construction of the crosstown freeway wiped out nearly all evidence of its residents, buildings, and cultural history.
In 1999, demolition equipment was set to level Little Manila’s remaining buildings. This led to the creation of Little Manila Rising (LMR). In 2003, LMR stopped strip mall developers from paving over many more family homes and businesses—and to this day, we continue advocating to preserve and uplift the South Stockton community.
The history of Stockton mirrors that of many American cities. Communities of color in Stockton bare wounds from federal policies such as redlining and eminent domain, which have systematically driven resources away from people of color, specifically in South Stockton. These wounds have primarily manifested as disparities in education, health, and economics. Urban development driven by profit and racial bias has further exacerbated these inequalities, leading to the dismantling of working-class communities of color; like what we’ve seen happen to Little Manila. However, there has been a recent push to address these historic wrongs, with calls for more equitable resource allocation and city services.
Little Manila Rising has been actively working to uplift and empower the neglected communities of South Stockton, aiming to rectify the injustices of the past and build a more inclusive and thriving future.
Click to read Little Manila Rising’s Capital Campaign Report
Little Manila Rising is embarking on a $5 million capital campaign to establish the critical infrastructure for a thriving social justice economy. This begins with the rehabilitation of the historic Legionarios Del Trabajo Grand Lodge, now transformed into the Little Manila Rising Center, which we envision will be a vibrant community hub for South Stockton.
The Center will also ground LMR’s new role as Stockton’s first Community Development Corporation (CDC), which will focus on cultural/historical preservation, climate resiliency, youth services, and economic development. We invite you to join us in shaping this invaluable resource for our community and our future generations.
How donation to our campaign can enhance our services:
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Providing a space for green jobs training and community education around environmental justice.
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A space to expand our healing circles and wellness clinics. We will be able to offer one-on-one free mental health counseling services.
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Creating a strategic headquarters for Little Manila Rising’s ongoing programming in health and environmental justice through the creation of more flexible co-working office space, conference space, and small zoom rooms.
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The renovation process will replace all outdated systems to construct our center with climate resilience and energy efficient retrofits. We are also conceptualizing ways our center and programs can help adapt to meet the needs in times of climate related events.
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We envision our center to be a place where residents can access a variety of activities and build their skills. Through creating more multipurpose community spaces in the building we hope to partner with others to provide events, educational workshops, artistic and hobby groups, and other community programming that can be accessed year round.
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The creation of a community development corporation (CDC) dedicated to the revitalization of South Stockton and the infrastructure building of social justice nonprofits.
VISION
Introducing The Little Manila Center
We have already taken our most significant step forward – acquiring the historic Legionarios Del Trabajo grand lodge to create the Little Manila Center! This marks a critical moment toward land stewardship by and for the community.
But this is only the first step. Many young professionals, especially those connected to Little Manila Rising, desire to return to South Stockton to help revitalize the community. However, challenges like limited employment opportunities and housing make this difficult. The key obstacle lies in our social failure to recognize the value of community-based work. Resources in Stockton are disproportionately directed towards for-profit ventures — like warehouse construction — neglecting the potential of investing in social justice initiatives. Little Manila Rising advocates for a social justice economy that redirects resources towards community-based projects, empowering youth to create their own career pathways while addressing systemic injustices. This vision entails a shift in societal values and priorities, requiring collective investment in mechanisms to manage resources effectively and prioritize undoing past injustices.
What Will We Do With The Space?
In our 22 year history, we have been able to establish ethnic studies in our schools, develop youth advocates, and expand our programs to include health, wellness, organizing, and environmental justice. As Little Manila Rising grows, we seek to develop a community hub in and for South Stockton, encouraging community pride, and directly addressing historical POC debarment from owning property.
IMAGINE THIS NEW FUTURE WITH US
This is what may be possible with your support. (Expand each section to read more details).
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A Community Space for Organizing and Cultural/Community Programming: The upstairs ballroom once served as a vital gathering space to the Filipino American community for cultural celebrations and practice of Escrima (Filipino Martial Arts).
We hope to install an elevator to make the building ADA accessible so that we are able to have the second floor be open to the public for our community events and performance space.
This ballroom can then become home to vital community programs such as the Red Dragon Theater Company, Bahala Na Escrima, Rondolla Academy, Little Manila Dance Collective, and Kulintang Academy.
This would also allow us to make a community space that can be rented at affordable prices to local nonprofits and for community events and performances.
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Climate Resilience Center: Creating a community hub in a neighborhood with few large gathering spaces would be vital to mobilizing an emergency response to climate-related natural disaster. The center could potentially be utilized as a space to help community members access social and health services, air conditioning and purification during heat waves and poor air quality days, and educational training sessions, among other services.
Respiratory / Health / Wellness Clinic: Stockton has one of the states highest rates of asthma. In our respiratory and health clinic, we might be able to provide needed medical and clinical services in Southwest Stockton where there are currently none. Additionally, we would aim to provide access to mental health counseling, healing circles, and culturally-rooted healing practices.
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Museum of Marginalization: Our late co-founder Dawn Mabalon was a revered historian of Stockton history and Asian-American history. Through her research, LMR has developed historical panels and collected artifacts that not only speak to Filipino-American history but also to the impact of marginalization of communities of color through the late 1800s until today through the lens of Stockton history. These items and their accompanying stories can be on display for educational purposes.