Participate in a 1.5 mile or 3.5 mile Walk for Health and express pride and support for mental health consumers and their family members at the beautiful Lake Merritt. Meet at the Lake Merritt Bandstand for the walks. Open to all ages! Exercise/Dance classes are open to all to participate and ACMHS’s staff Eduard Valladares will teach the line dance class!

This event and all the classes are free and lunch is provided!  Hope to see you there!

More information on the flyer. Pre-register at http://10×10wellnesscampaign.eventbrite.com/

On the afternoon of the Oikos University shooting on April 2^nd, 2012 in Oakland, the tragedy that took the lives of seven people and wounded three, ACMHS received phone calls from the offices of the Oakland Mayor Jean Quan and the Crisis Support Program of the Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Services. We were asked to provide mental health services, especially in the Korean language. ACMHS’ Asian ACCESS department and the Korean speaking staff were mobilized to provide mental health services and offer help as needed.

While we were deeply saddened by this human tragedy, ACMHS quickly formed the Emergency Response Team to respond to community requests for services. ACMHS provided crisis/grief counselors at both the 4/3/2012 Allen Temple Baptist Church Prayer Vigil and the 4/10/2012 Oikos University Memorial Service. Languages represented by the staff attending these events were Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Burmese, and English.

In order to not duplicate services during the immediate aftermath phase, ACMHS and the several responding agencies came together to meet and work as a collaborative. These agencies include the Catholic Charities of the East Bay, the American Red Cross, the Alameda County’s Crisis Support Program, the OPD Chaplaincy, the Korean Community Center of the East Bay, and ACMHS.

As an agency, ACMHS not only provided mental health services, we provided linguistically and culturally competent perspectives for other agencies as they themselves provided their respective services. The Asian perspectives we shared helped them be more culturally sensitive as they worked with the victims and their families. Mr. Dean Chambers, LCSW, of the Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Services’ Crisis Response Program praised ACMHS saying, “You and your team have been great and it really fills me with inspiration to see how all of us came together so fast; there is nothing like the spirit of cooperation and compassion to serve those in crisis…”

It has been a whirlwind of a week-and-a-half for ACMHS. In the upcoming days and weeks, we expect more requests for us to provide mental health services to those who witnessed or lived through this traumatic event, and to those whose PTSD symptoms have been triggered as a result of this tragedy. We are in the midst of compiling a list of Korean speaking and non-Korean speaking clinicians and counselors, as well as licensed therapists to supervise their work. In order to prevent agency burnout, we will also collaborate with other API agencies who can share the community burden. For the longer-term needs, ACMHS anticipates helping the API community heal by providing psycho-education regarding mental health signs and symptoms. The psycho-education ought to help in preventing future tears in the fabric of our community.

Sincerely,

Lily Lue Stearns, Ph.D. Executive Director

Community violence has impacted the lives of many Cambodians in the community, including many members of the greater Oakland community. Children, youth, families, and elders have been devastated and scarred by the violence. Many individuals have grieved for the loss of loved ones, experienced post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depressive disorders, acute trauma, or other health and wellness related problems due to the community violence. 

Because of concerns raised by members of the Cambodian community, Asian Community Mental Health Services (ACMHS) and other community based organizations collaborated to form the Cambodian Community Safety Committee to take steps to address this particular issue and to support the Cambodian community. Asian Community Mental Health Services, in collaboration with Community Health for Asian Americans (CHAA), Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants (CERI), East Bay Asian Youth Center (EBAYC), and Cambodian Community Development Inc. (CCDI), hosted a Cambodian Community March 4 Peace on Saturday, March 31, 2012, in the Cambodian community. The purpose of the peace march was to unite the Cambodian community in solidarity to speak up against violence and to empower the community members to have the courage to march for community safety and peace.

The Cambodian Community March 4 Peace was a significant and powerful symbol to the Cambodian community because of the unity it represented.  Historically, the Oakland Cambodian community has been fractured and isolated, primarily as a result of their experience in Khmer Rouge Genocide. The community violence has contributed to this isolation. Fear and distrust have permeated the community and manifested in significant divisions, particularly between the two Oakland Cambodian Buddhist temples. This peace march is the first event in the history of the Oakland Cambodian community that the two temples put aside their differences to come together in unity with Cambodian community members.  It was truly a historic day. This symbol has sent the message to community members that we can be united towards a monumental cause; and we can work to improve the safety and peace in the community.  

This event served as a powerful symbol of community unity. It is the first step towards further empowering the Cambodian community to have a voice in changing their community for the better. The Cambodian community members have shown that they not only have a voice, but that they can work together with local and state officials towards making a safer and more peaceful community in Oakland.  With the support and collaboration of many community based organizations, local, state and federal  policy makers, the Cambodian community has demonstrated their commitment to working together for the health and wellbeing of the their community.

 - Pysay Phinith, Assistant Project Director, Asian Community Mental Health Services

A tragedy has struck Oakland once again. While we don’t have all the details of the Monday fatal shooting at Oikos University, ACMHS has been contacted by the offices of the Oakland Mayor Jean Quan and Mr. Dean Chambers of the Crisis Support Program of the Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Services to provide mental health services. In conversation with Mr. Chambers, I was told that many of the victims are Koreans with Korean-speaking family members.

ACMHS’ Asian ACCESS department, under the leadership of Dr. Kotomi Ito, and especially the Korean speaking staff, has been activated to provide mental health services and offer any help needed in the next days, weeks, and months to come. ACMHS will respond as appropriate and as requested by the Mayor and county offices as well as the larger API community.

We are deeply saddened by this human tragedy. Our sincerest sympathies, thoughts, and prayers go to the victims, those who lost their lives and those who were wounded. We pray for a speedy recovery for those who were wounded and we send our deepest condolences to the families who lost family members.

There is so much work to be done in our communities. We look forward to collaborating and working with others who are also committed to making our world a peaceful and healthy place to live.

Sincerely,

Lily Lue Stearns, Ph.D. Executive Director

On behalf of the Board of Directors, staff, and the community we serve at Asian Community Mental Health Services (ACMHS), we want to thank you for your support and investment in ACMHS. Every gift allows us to expand our critical work to serve immigrant children, youth, adults, families, and seniors who struggle to gain access to culturally competent care. Thank you for the important role you play in supporting the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) community!

One of ACMHS’ largest dreams became a reality recently when we established a new unit of integrated and comprehensive, early intervention and treatment, services for children and youth. The Children and Youth Integrated Program will impact more than 700 clients and their families each year, both insured and uninsured, and will create a no-wrong door safety-net, a one-stop shop consisting of a wide range of wellness interventions promoting resiliency for API children and youth, from birth to 21 years of age.

Because of your generous financial support, we will be able to develop more language capabilities to better serve the API community, create innovative and holistic interventions such as peer-to-peer mentoring, support groups, bullying prevention, and positive enrichment activities.

Again, thank you for collaborating with us by making a year-end gift. This will help us transform the lives of underserved API children, youth, parents, and families.

Sincerely,

Lily Lue Stearns, Ph.D.
Executive Director & CEO

PS: Did you know you can double your contribution through your company’s matching gifts program? Please contact your corporate foundation or contributions department representative for more information.

ACMHS supports the 2011 Advancing Justice Conference.  The two-day conference will be held at Hotel Kabuki in San Francisco.  The Advancing Justice Conference is a national civil rights and social justice conference that aims to bring together a diverse group of stakeholders in one place to address a broad range of issues facing the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.

For more information, visit http://advancingjustice.org/conference/2011/index.php

For more information, please contact Melinda Capiraso at 415.821.9693.