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Note: We can communicate with you in English, Lao, or Thai. This web site is currently available only in English. Please contact us for information in your language, or to request an interpreter.
The goal of the Lao Assistance Center of Minnesota is to help Lao people achieve successful economic integration while preserving their cultural integrity and history. Services include the refugee self-sufficiency program, language and cultural preservation, legal assistance and education project, youth recreation league, community outreach and education initiative, interpreting and translating, elders, citizenship and health education.
Our History
Lao Assistance Center of Minnesota (LACM) is a nonprofit corporation organized in 1983. Members of the Minneapolis Lao community formed LACM in response to the critical need of Lao refugee and immigrant population in Minnesota to aid in social adjustment, education, economic and social self-sufficiency, while preserving the cultural integrity and history of Lao people. Its offices are located in north Minneapolis, and the organization delivers services primarily in the West Metro area of the Twin Cities, but also in other parts of the Metro area and throughout the state.
LACM has been in the forefront of responding to the changing needs and concerns of the Lao community. With those changes, such as welfare and immigration legislative reform, LACM has restructured programs, as well as added or revised services to fit current needs.
The Lao Assistance Center of Minnesota was formed to help newly-arrived refugees resettle in the Twin Cities. Early in the organization’s history, federal programs for those Lao people designated as "new refugees" (arriving between 1980 and 1990) were generous. However, for the "second migration" (those arriving from other states for family reunification in Minnesota as well as immigrants coming directly from Laos, France, Canada or Australia), the programs and benefits have become scarce.
Currently, LACM focuses its efforts on serving Lao immigrants and refugees in the following areas:
- adjustment to American culture
- attaining education
- communication skills
- economic self-sufficiency.
To learn about our current staff members, see the staff directory.
Our Location
Lao Assistance Center of Minnesota
503 Irving Avenue North, Suite 100A
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55405
For detailed information about our office location and how to reach us, please see the Contact Us page.
