Welcome to Utah Tibetan Association (UTA) official site. We are non-profit organization registered under section 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporations in Utah State.
UTA serve as a resource for anyone interested to learn about Tibet, Tibetans, language, religion and other aspect of the Tibetan culture. Our objective and mission is to preserve our culture, arts, language, and provide guidance to the young generation of Utah Tibetans. We are also committed to diversifying our organization by interacting with other culture and communities.
In 1989, the United States Congress passed legislation providing 1,000 immigrant visas for Tibetan refugees living in India and Nepal. Prior to this legislation, there was no federal or state funding to help resettle Tibetan immigrants. Local Utah volunteers along with the Chagzoetsang family applied to be a host city to receive Tibetan refugees under the special visa program. Each host city around the country was charged with complete financial responsibility to provide the basic needs of the immigrants including housing, employment, medical assistance, immigration and orientation for the first three months of arrival. The group was successful in becoming a host city from 1991 to 1993. With the help of hundreds of local volunteers and sponsors, the original fifty were housed in the avenues on D street which was lent by Intermountain Health care IHC to the resettlement community. Tibetan refugees began arriving and a Tibetan community was formed.
The success of the resettlement project was due to a cross-section of dedicated and compassionate volunteers and organizations from the Salt Lake area that provided medical, legal, housing, and associated services to the new arrivals.
Tibetans have always been good Utahans and appreciate Utah’s recognition and appreciation of Tibetan culture. In fact, the New York Association for New Americans (NYANA) ranked The Salt Lake City Tibetan Resettlement Project as the most successful Tibetan Resettlement Project in the country, in terms of immigrant assimilation and self-sufficiency.
Although the Tibetan community in Utah is relatively small compared other settlement towns, nevertheless, the settlement has put Utah on a unique map, making it a great destination for Tibetan refugees, and His Holiness himself in 2001 and 2016
Since Salt Lake City Tibetan Resettlement Program began 20 years ago, the numbers of Tibetans in Utah gradually began to grow and presently the Tibetan population has increased to about 400. It includes those who walked out of Tibet as an adult, as a child, and those born in the Exile community. It even includes those who has never seen Tibet, or steeped foot, and those who have been tortured, jailed, and beaten by the Chinese.
As the days turned into years, the Tibetans in Utah have many success stories. The Tibetan people have gone from minimum wage jobs to well-known companies, hospitals, and schools. The children have grown up and graduated from various high schools, and gone to many colleges and universities to pursue further education. Many marriages have taken place, and many have given birth to the first generation of Tibetans in Utah.
Tibetan people have come long ways since the 1983, brought with them the greatest characteristic of mankind; values of kindness, compassion, and harmony to everyone around them. The community is working together to ensure that the culture, religion and the identity of Tibet is not forgotten. The Tibetan people are involved in various activities, actions, and events to sustain the continuous mobilization of the plight of TIBET. This is a time for perpetual hope where we all need to come together to make a difference in this world.