The journey to start an AAPI social justice and service organization in the OC to
address disparities in health
About Mary Anne
Family immigrated in 1861
Racism, poverty, rural isolation
Empowerment
Journey to The OC
The Real OC
About Asians and Pacific Islanders in OC
• Orange County has the third largest AAPI population in the nation making up 21% of the entire county
• Orange County has the third largest number of AAPI owned businesses in the United States bringing in nearly $21B in revenue and almost 100,000 jobs
Why OCAPICA
7/18/2014
Oh, I killed a Jap a while ago. I stabbed him to death at Tustin High School. . . Then I stabbed him in the side about 7 or 8 times. He rolled over a little, so I stabbed his back about 18 or 19 times. Then he layed flat and I slit one side of his throat on his jugular vein. So I stabbed him about 20 to 21 times in the heart . . . Here’s the clippings from the newspaper and we were on all the news channels. [I’m] having a ball in Tustin. Wish you were here.—Lindberg in a letter to his cousin
Why1992 - Police Mug Files of Asian-
Americans HitOrange County Leads California In Anti-Islamic
Hate Crime Complaints – 9/2014
Hate crimes in O.C. up 14% in 2011, panel reports
“Asians are the good immigrants, driving Mercedes and BMWs, they take care of
their own.” “Big Refugee Rip-Off”“Your people don’t vote, why should I
listen?”
Influences to the community’s well being
• Economy• How a community/neighborhood is planned• Environment, housing, stores/markets• Resources for a school • Resources for a city• Who’s in power and do they understand the needs• Culture and family background• Health• Laws and policies• Racism, discrimination, equity, etc.
Community Needs• Poverty – homeless, living in rooms or motels,
garages, working several jobs, can’t meet basic needs, dropping out of school to help family
• Many AAPI populations underserved and low representation in college – can’t afford college
• Undiagnosed health and mental health needs
• More AAPI youth in foster care, juvenile justice, and homeless
• Language barriers
Cases• M.N. 14-year old Vietnamese female• A.N. 16-year old Vietnamese male• T.P. 17-year old Thai male• M.X. 15-year old Hmong female• S.K. 48-year old JA business exec
About OCAPICA
Established in 1997 with the mission to build a healthier and stronger community by enhancing the well-being of Asians and Pacific Islanders through inclusive partnerships in the areas of service, education, advocacy, organizing, and research.
About OCAPICA Staff• 106 staff members
representing the diverse communities of Orange County
• We speak 26 different languages and American Sign Language
• 6 offices (Garden Grove, Costa Mesa, Buena Park, Lake Forest, Irvine, and Anaheim)
Populations Served• OCAPICA annually serves more
than 40,000 individuals.
Program Areas
• Health• Mental Health• Youth Education and
Leadership• Policy and Advocacy• Workforce
Development
HEALTH Cancer Prevention Obesity, physical
activity, nutrition Diabetes Child injury
prevention Children’s health Cultural
competency
Mental Health
• Full Service Partnership/Wraparound– Intensive case management and therapy– Wraparound services – “Whatever it takes”
• Prevention and Early Intervention– Outreach and engagement– Short term outpatient therapy/counseling– Supportive services– Training and supervision program
YOUTH• Afterschool Tutoring
and Mentoring• College Preparation• Leadership
Development• Career Development• Mental Health• Scholarships• APAC class
Education
• Developing AAPI education curriculum
• Training more than 1,500 teachers on AAPI education issues
Workforce Development
Financial Literacy for Youth and Adults
Workforce development with paid experience
Working with homeless families to obtain housing
POLICY
• Voter Mobilization
• Census Outreach and Education
• Redistricting• Legislative
Education
Addressing Disparities in Health
• Systemic and policy change – ultimately having a voice – voting
• Strengths based approaches, resiliency and recovering, trauma focused – not victim blaming
• Leadership development and mentoring• Addressing the entire environment and
determinants of health• Impact in the economy – financing, investments –
not band-aids• Courage to be visionary, rather than scare tactics,
threats, fear based
T.Y.’s Story
Every story has
a beginning
…
Mine starts out in the middle of a fight. I was nine years old…
I cried a lot, got angry a lot.
Everything about me was bad…
Then came my Case Manager…
I started therapy.
I bloomed.
I got into art school.
I bloomed.
I made friends.
I bloomed.
I feel complete.
They saved my life…
It can really change a person. I’m different now.
I’m better.
Thank you Katie & everyone…
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