ASIAN HEALTH SERVICES

ABOUT

Community Healing Initiatives

community-leadership

Creation of Community Healing Initiatives

Our Values

Public Safety is critical to community healing. 

Everyone has a right to heal from trauma and feel safe in their community.

Community health centers have an important role to play in providing linguistically and culturally relevant care to survivors of trauma.

Problem Statement

  • Stop AAPI Hate recorded 451 Hate incidents targeting AAPIs in Alameda County during the first 18 months of the Covid pandemic
  • Significant gaps in Alameda County for limited – English proficient Asian immigrants and refugees to receive victim support services and violence prevents interventions
  • In 2021, Oakland Chinatown had a violent crime rate of 2,428 per 100,000, which is over four times higher than CA’s 2021 violent crime rate of 466 per 100,000

Direct Services

Counseling

Mental health counseling is provided by trauma-informed therapists, social workers, and lay health workers

Crime Survivor's Assistance

System navigation support, case management, victim assistance finds, free food deliveries

Cultural Healing

Link with healing practitioners

  • Yoga
  • Acupuncture
  • Massage Therapy
  • Walking Meditation

*During the first year of services, AHS provided direct services to 132 survivors of crime, hate, and violence

*Over 50% of clients are impacted by homicide or gun violence

Client Characteristics

Most common Mental Health Diagnoses:

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Unspecified Trauma and Stress Related Disorder

Unspecified Anxiety Disorder

Ethnicity

Policy Solutions

AHS strategies that are aligned with the Brooknig Institution’s “New community safety blueprint: How the federal government can address violence and harm through public health approach”

 
Public health and prevention policy recommendations:
  • Create sustainable funding streams for community violence intervention programs
  • Scale civilian crisis response models
  • Increase funding for community health clinics, trauma recovery centers, and community health workers
Institutional tranformation policy recommendations:
  • Provide sustainable and accessible funding for grassroots organizationa
  • Create a community safety division at the Department of Health and Human Services (and local government)
  • Fund additional research on the social determinants of safety