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Cantonese, Mandarin, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Vietnamese, Korean, Tagalog, Bengali, Konkani, Portugese, Urdu, Hakka...
Just some of the languages spoken by patients and staff at
The Child Center's Asian Outreach Clinic
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A Clinic Reaches Out: Spotlight on the Asian Outreach Clinic
How do Asian communities deal with the stress of coping with a different language, culture and economy; adjust
to relocation and protracted separation from family back home; handle inter-generational conflicts with American-born children?
This issue we look at a special clinic with a singular focus: the diverse and multilingual Asian population of New York City and the issues they face. Our Asian Outreach Clinic (AOC) serves the most ethnically diverse Asian population in the nation. Last year we worked with more than 1,400 adults and children from more than a dozen countries of origin speaking 20 different languages. Our staff uses their deep understanding of the issues faced by new Americans based on their own experiences as immigrants from these countries themselves.
The most common word you hear when you talk to the social workers at the Asian Outreach Clinic is "stigma." It reflects the longstanding unease and shame surrounding mental health treatment in Asian communities. The Child Center's AOC confronts that problem directly through workshops and outreach at schools, hospitals, community centers...everywhere the community can be accessed. Problems like substance abuse, depression, domestic violence, child abuse and neglect are hitting these groups hard. Through word of mouth from the thousands of clients we see and successfully treat, distrust and "stigma" are slowly being eroded and replaced with healing and hope.
With the huge influx of Asians into the city in the 80s and 90s, The Child Center responded to the emerging need for bilingual mental health support--applying for and receiving a grant from the NYC Department of Heath and Mental Hygiene in 1993. In its first year, the AOC served 250. Now, 16 years later, the clinic has two branches: Elmhurst and Flushing, two major Asian hubs in New York City and is the only clinic in the city that treats so many distinct Asian ethnic groups under one roof. Read more
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Over the last ten years,
the Asian Outreach Clinic has:
· Received 4,500 referrals for therapy
· Served over 3,000 children and adults in our clinics
· Seen an additional 2,200 family members to ensure that the whole family supports the child or adult experiencing problems
· Counseled 2,500 children in 35 New York City public schools.
· Outreached to 7,000 people in the community.
· Conducted over 1,000 workshops in multiple Asian languages and 300 media presentations to create awareness about mental illness and substance abuse
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 A Snapshot of the Korean Group at the Asian Outreach Clinic
When Sung Min Yoon immigrated to this country nine years ago from Seoul, South Korea, he had already begun a second career in social work, having decided that his first--marketing the oil business--was just not for him. The business culture he witnessed firsthand encouraged serious social drinking with clients, which would often spiral into alcoholism, cause families to split apart and instigate serious mental health issues. It's one main reason that he became interested in treating substance abusers among his own cultural peers in New York City. As assistant project director at the Asian Clinic, he sees a lot of that these days in the Korean community, especially in this troubling economic climate. Along with substance abuse, issues like child abuse and domestic violence emerge, as adults express their stresses and fears in increasingly unhealthy ways. Read more.
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SPONSOR A CHILD TODAY...
and make an impact on tomorrow
For $250 your contribution will help heal a child suffering from emotional problems caused by immigration. It will help get a teen off drugs. It will give a struggling reader the opportunity to express herself through dance in an after school program. It will teach a family non-violent ways to deal with stress through weekly home visits by a social worker.
We often ask what one person, one family, one classroom, one neighborhood can do. The problems can seem insurmountable. This is our city; these are our children. Their futures represent our futures. What affects them, ultimately affects us all.
Our goal for 2009/2010 is to raise $200,000 to ensure that more children get the help they need... If you can, sponsor more than one child. Or, join with others to make a group sponsorship contribution. Your contribution is greatly appreciated.
Donate Now!
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Read more about the Asian Outreach Clinic in our upcoming print newsletter, arriving in your mailboxes in June.
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