CAPI USA was founded as The Centre for Asian and Pacific Islanders in 1982 by a coalition of church groups helping Southeast Asian refugees settle in Minnesota in the aftermath of the Vietnam war. In the decades that followed, CAPI embraced new refugees and immigrants from all over the world, including East and West Africa, India, Nepal, Myanmar, Bhutan, Thailand, and Burma, among others. In 2008, the agency changed its name to CAPI USA to reflect this increasingly multicultural focus and diverse client base.

In June 2018, we opened our new Immigrant Opportunity Center (IOC) in Brooklyn Center and consolidated our programming at the IOC and East Lake Street Center in Minneapolis. With the development of the IOC, CAPI became the predominant non-profit service provider for immigrants and people of color in Northwest Hennepin County. Since then, CAPI’s basic needs, economic empowerment, and civic engagement programming has grown to serve 4,500+ immigrants and people of color annually.