Over the last 15 years, the Tibetan community has undergone exponential growth in the San Francisco Bay Area. From only a handful in the 1980's, the community is now estimated to be 1,500, with many more new arrivals expected in the coming years due to the deteriorating political conditions for Tibetan refugees in Nepal, the increased numbers of Tibetans fleeing Tibet for Nepal and India, and other factors.

First, there is a lack of social, educational, and vocational services that are specifically targeted to meet the needs of the Tibetan community. The most pronounced lack is in programs addressing the needs of elderly Tibetans with little to no knowledge of English, and those targeting middle school and high school-aged Tibetan youth. Whether it is providing a space for elderly Tibetans to spend the day, worship, and get a hot meal, or in providing classes in Tibetan language and culture for young Tibetans, the shear number of Tibetans requiring services makes it impossible for community members to keep doing these kinds of activities without the support of a formal facility.

Second, on the level of culture, Bay Area Tibetans, like Tibetans everywhere, are engaged in a larger struggle to save their culture from the very real threat of extinction. From the lack of access many Tibetans inside Tibet have to classes that teach Tibetan history and language, to the continued, well-documented attack on Tibetan Buddhism and its institutions by the Chinese government, His Holiness the Dalai Lama's phrase - "cultural genocide" - accurately summarizes what the International Commission of Jurists, officials of foreign governments and numerous non-governmental organizations have found in Chinese-occupied Tibet.

In response to this situation, Tibetans in exile have, over the last half-century, set themselves the enormous task of preserving their cultural traditions, religion, and language in the diaspora.

The TCCNC is certainly a part of this effort, but many Bay Area Tibetans emphasize that the planned Center is as much about developing a culture as it is about preserving one. With many Tibetans being born in the United States, it is critical that we create conditions in which this population of young people can excel and develop as well rounded people in this society. This means nourishing their Tibetan roots, but it also means providing them with the social and educational tools necessary to succeed in this country. At the heart of the mission of the TCCNC is that, if we as a community put in sufficient effort and gather sufficient resources, this effort will enable the next generation to balance a deep understanding of their Tibetan identity with a rich and engaged life in the United States.

We are at a point in history where the number of Tibetans in the Bay Area, the energy in the Tibetan community, and the longstanding interest of the Bay Area community in Tibetan culture, can combine to create a truly unique community space - a permanent home to a living culture. We must not waste it.