Asian Mental Health Project: Community Care Initiatives

Health care access

County of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a countywide benefit)

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

In Los Angeles County, Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities face persistent barriers to mental health care, including stigma, language access, and lack of culturally aligned services. A 2024 report by AAPI Data and UCLA Center for Health Policy Research found that 1 in 4 NHPI adults and 1 in 6 Asian American adults in California reported needing mental health support - revealing deep gaps in both access and culturally responsive care. The way mental health and distress is experienced and expressed is deeply shaped by cultural beliefs, values, and norms. These challenges are compounded by intergenerational trauma -rooted in colonization, war, and displacement - that continues to impact AANHPI youth, young adults, and older adults in distinct yet culturally interconnected ways. Since 2020, AMHP has responded to these complex needs by bridging mental health education with community-led healing through free peer support groups and in-person care spaces.

This grant will support AMHP's Community Care Initiatives, which offer free, culturally responsive mental health programming for Asian and BIPOC individuals in Los Angeles County and beyond. These initiatives address systemic and cultural barriers by creating spaces for healing outside of traditional mental health services, empowering individuals to take action for their mental health.
Our flagship weekly program, Stay In, Check-In, offers virtual peer-led support for youth, young adults, and older adults, reflecting our intergenerational model of collective care. Each 1.5-hour session is facilitated by professionals, wellness practitioners, or individuals with lived experience on topics such as identity, relationships, and Asian American experiences.
AMHP also hosts six biweekly peer affinity groups tailored to intersectional mental health needs. Co-led by mental health professionals and peer facilitators, these groups are co-created with attendees and shaped by community needs, offering space for conversation, learning, and collective healing. Current groups include:
Proud Asian Men
Asian Women & Femmes Wellness Group
Asian Adoptee Empowerment Circle
Shikor (Roots): Pan-Asian Caregivers & Providers
Queer Asian Mental Health Club
Palestinian Affinity Group
In-person community events such as Honor Your Feelings Fest, women’s and men’s retreats create space to reclaim mental health and joy through cultural expression, somatic practices, storytelling, and collective care.

AMHP’s work is building a mental health ecosystem in Los Angeles County where Asian and BIPOC communities can access care that celebrates cultural identity, shared healing, and collective resilience. Our free, year-round virtual programs offer peer support across generations, fostering connection through dialogue, education, and community co-leadership. In addition to these spaces, we host four core in-person events annually in LA that create opportunities for movement-based healing, cultural practice, and community connection - elements often missing in traditional mental health care. These gatherings are not only spaces of care, but celebrations of our right to heal, connect, and thrive. Our vision is to expand these community touchpoints by offering at least one in-person gathering per group each year, bringing people together across generations and widening access by showing that mental health care can take many forms - and begins by meeting people where they are in their journey.