NEW YORK, New York (October 10, 2024) --   Funding and supporting collective healing options like youth mental health workshops, culturally responsive wellness programs, and linguistically accessible social groups for seniors have the power to address the very roots of the mental health struggles immigrant and limited English proficient New Yorkers are currently facing.

That’s according to the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF)’s new policy brief “Collective Healing: Mental Health For The Community, By The Community,” which was released on Thursday, Oct 10, 2024 in commemoration of World Mental Health Day.

Collective healing as a practice is a unique, holistic and non-traditional model of addressing mental health. New York City’s community-based organizations (CBOs) regularly list “mental health” as one of the biggest concerns facing the populations they serve today. CACF and our Access Health NYC awardees see firsthand how collective healing programs contribute to the mental wellbeing of our community members. Our CBOs report collective healing programs have been particularly effective when serving Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) and Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) community members.

“Our CBOs see firsthand how collective healing programs create a sense of connection and belonging amongst community members of immigrant and limited English proficient backgrounds. Whether it is a senior social group that rides the subway together for the first time or a youth-led workshop that helps create a conversation about the issues important to high schoolers today, collective healing programming provides much-needed social spaces that also promote self-empowerment and a sense of belonging and safety,” said CACF’s Co-Executive Directors Anita Gundanna and Vanessa Leung. “CACF hopes this encourages policymakers to uplift collective healing practices when funding programming for AAPI New Yorkers across the city.” 

Launched in 2014 and funded by the New York City Council, Access Health NYC is a vital initiative that empowers and uplifts community-based organizations (CBOs) that serve hard-to-reach communities — a group that includes immigrants, non-English speakers, and undocumented community members. 

As a co-leader of Access Health NYC, CACF helps advocate for and organize diverse CBOs across NYC to do their vital on the ground work for hard to reach communities. In June, CACF launched the first of its quarterly Access Health NYC Learning Circles, in-person convenings in which many of our 37 Access Health NYC awardees come together to share learnings and collaborate on how to address health care access-related issues facing New Yorkers today. The new “Collective Healing” policy brief is an extension of the conversations that began at the June 27th, 2024 inaugural learning circle.

“CBOs like our Access Health NYC awardees are often the first place New Yorkers turn to when seeking support — which is why the firsthand experiences and recommendations of Access Health NYC awardees are centered throughout this brief,” said Miral Abbas, CACF’s Health Partnerships Coordinator. “CACF’s Access Health NYC Learning Circles are an opportunity to convene our partners working on the ground with our communities each day and to share the learnings with each other. We hope this brief sparks a discussion about why New York City needs more programs for New Yorkers of all ages that center collective healing.”

CACF will next convene our Access Health NYC awardees in December for a learning circle on innovative health outreach practices for their respective communities.

For more information, please contact Lakshmi Gandhi, CACF’s Senior Communications Coordinator, at lgandhi@cacf.org.

###