Mental Health Services for Asian Communities

Ms. Li, an 100-year-old senior who endured the strife of World War II to raise seven children, lives in fear that she might be the next target of anti-Asian hate crimes. Ms. Ng, 32, suffers from suicidal thoughts because she cannot bear the anxiety that her teen daughter might be harmed on the streets. These are the stories that we hear every day from the community members who come to us everyday.

From repeated attacks on Asian elders to the more recent shooting that left six Asian women in Atlanta dead, violence against the AAPI communities has escalated over the past year and our community is hurting. 

At the Academy of Medical & Public Health Services (AMPHS)  we are expanding our free mental health services to help our communities overcome the heaviness, fear and anxiety unraveling everyday. Your contribution will provide bilingual mental health education, mental health therapy, and peer support groups to our Chinese-speaking neighbors. Our doors are open to everyone -- free of charge, no insurance needed, no questions asked. We need your support to help our Asian community members take the time and space they need to grieve and process trauma. 

With your help, we will be able to hire a mental health therapist to begin offering free mental health therapy services and support groups to our hurting community members this summer. They will also provide workshops to help tackle the stigma that prevents us from accessing services.

Our Asian immigrant community members have experienced intense economic hardship and loss during the pandemic, and now the spike in hate against Asian Americans has multiplied the fear and anxiety our Asian community members face. In Sunset Park -- often referred to as Brooklyn Chinatown -- our Asian neighbors fear for their safety simply walking to the store. Parents are nervous about sending their children back to school for fear they will be bullied and labeled a “virus.” The anxiety and depression is debilitating, yet unspoken of because of stigma and invisibility. It is even harder for those who are uninsured and unable to seek care. Mental health support for Asian immigrants is sorely lacking but desperately needed. 

With your support, we will be able to connect our Asian neighbors to a safe, culturally-sensitive space for therapy. Please stand with AMPHS in supporting and uplifting our Asian-American community as they continue to fall under attack. Together, we can help our community heal.  

About AMPHS

Academy of Medical & Public Health Services (AMPHS) is a not-for-profit public health service organization that serves Chinese and Latinx immigrant New Yorkers in South Brooklyn, many who are uninsured and have been denied access to healthcare because of their immigration status. We have a triple aim to identify barriers to health and wellness in underserved immigrant communities; coordinate truly needed primary care with social assistance; and deliver care with dignity and empathy to marginalized New Yorkers. At AMPHS we affirm that healthcare is not a privilege, but a basic human right. We provide free and low-cost health services for low-income and low-English proficient immigrants that promote community wellness and advocate for a broader, more inclusive healthcare system. AMPHS is a haven for those that have been barred from accessing traditional healthcare institutions because of their economic or legal status, or because of negative, off-putting experiences. The more accessible we can make that system the more we can empower our Brooklyn communities and build faith and transparency.