Healing Our People through Engagement (HOPE) Program

Background

Administered by the California Department of Social Services, the Transformative Grants program supports organizations with a track record for transformative impact in the areas of hate crime and hate incident survivor services, prevention, and interventions over a service term of 36 months.

As a Transformative Grantee, AAPI Equity Alliance is leading the development of a direct service program activity, Healing Our People through Engagement (HOPE) Program, that focuses on wellness and community healing.

Our Approach to Healing Asian and Asian American Communities in LA

“A first generation immigrant participant was able to reveal an incredible amount of pain that she was expressing for the very first time. Tears were shed as she shared how the microaggressions she faced — being outcast and made fun of for her cultural differences and her accent — affected her mental health.”

With the leadership of Dr. Anne Saw, Associate Professor of Clinical and Community Psychology at Depaul University, we developed a culturally-centered, community-based group intervention utilizing a Radical Healing Framework that…

  1. Attends to the distinct needs and strengths of different Asian and Asian American communities.
  2. Addresses specific ways one experiences – and can heal from – anti-Asian racism.

Community-Informed Focus Group

66 community members from five ethnic communities (Cambodian, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Japanese) participated in either focus groups or interviews in the spring of 2023. Many community members said the interviews themselves were healing and expressed gratitude for the opportunity to talk about their experiences and hear about others’ experiences.

“Our culture traditionally does not emphasize sharing feelings and vulnerabilities, making it difficult to talk about experiences related to racism. One participant initially expressed distrust and hopelessness. After seeing how others shared their stories she felt encouraged to share her own story and said it was the first time she felt accepted in a group."

Our Hope for Radical Healing 

Developed by a team of psychologists of color, the Psychology of Radical Healing Framework serves as the foundation for the HOPE program. The framework encourages research and practice that promotes healing, rather than merely coping, with the traumatic impacts of racism on communities of color.

Radical healing is about becoming whole in the face of ongoing racism through connecting with others in our community, drawing strength from our community and culture, and engaging in individual and community actions that promote our collective well-being, resilience, and positive change.

At its core, “radical hope allows for a sense of agency to change things for the greater good—a belief that one can fight for justice and that the fight will not be futile” (French et al., 2019, p. 13).

Partner Organizations