Cambodian Association of Illinois

Founded in 1976 by a group of Cambodian refugee volunteers responding to the needs of Cambodians resettling in Illinois. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, hundreds of thousands of refugees fled the tyranny, brutality, and torture of the Khmer Rouge genocide, in which more than two million people perished.

CAI serves some 5,000 Cambodians in Illinois (3,000 in Chicago) and nearby states, most of whom are refugees and children of refugees. In Illinois, CAI is the only Cambodian non-profit providing service Khmer bilingual programming to address the interrelated social and economic needs of the Cambodian-American population.