Join us for our next free Community Task Force for Asian mental health practitioners and creatives this Wed 3/17 5:30 PM PT / 8:30 PM ET!
Dear Community,
This week, I’m taking a break from the usual advice column to share learnings from our very first Community Task Force.
I want to begin by thanking Drained & Constrained, the reader whose question inspired us to create this space in last week’s newsletter. By naming the desire to do more for the community alongside the reality of carrying their own grief, they reminded me that I’m not alone in feeling this way. That even in moments of raw emotion and exhaustion, there is always possibility for change. That when times are tough, we still got us.
I had a lot of fears come up in preparing for this gathering. I worried that we weren’t the “right” people to put this call out. I worried that no one would show up. But last Wednesday, 30+ Asian mental health practitioners and creatives came together and collaborated on what this could be.
Over the course of an hour, we…
1) Built trust by “meeting” one another and learning about each other’s gifts/skills/offerings
2) Opened up about what we’ve been seeing or experiencing to cultivate a shared vision
3) Aligned on what we needed from each other to continue showing up for the AAPI community
Not pictured: lots of vulnerability, a non-judgmental space to process, intimacy, and feeling supported knowing that others in the room care too!!
While we didn’t walk away from the gathering with a ready-to-go plan of action, what mattered was that we told each other how much we needed one another. By choosing to stay in touch, we’ve grown beyond the limitations of our individual capacities. Now, we can access and serve from our collective capacities.
We’re going to continue holding this space for Asian mental health practitioners and creatives to lean into community care, share resources / knowledge, and organize towards action together. I hope you’ll join us for the next one this Wednesday 3/17, which will be facilitated by 3 of our current Give Good Care Accelerator practitioners Erika So, Bee Uytiepo, and Karolyn Wong!
I don’t know what will become of this, but that IS the magic — that we’re all co-creating this organically, responsively, and most importantly, together.
With love and care,
Cassandra Lam
P.S. We’ll be back with our advice column next week, and I’d love to hear from you! Whatever’s been on your mind or heart, let’s unpack, explore, or complicate it together! :) You can submit your question or thoughts to our Dear Care Team mailbox here.
Community Task Force
Join us on Wednesday 3/17 5:30 PM PT / 8:30 PM ET
Co-facilitated by Erika So, Bee Uytiepo, and Karolyn Wong
Join us for a meditation and some time to share reflections on how we're all feeling concerning AAPI Hate Crimes. We'll use the second half of our time together to create action steps to continue organizing and planning future events for this community.
*Invite to our Give Good Care community space hosted on Slack will be shared with all Community Task Force registrants!*
Recommended Reads
Credit: Heart of Dinner
Heart of Dinner, a non-profit founded by Yin Chang and Moonlynn Tsai, delivers meals to Asian elders in NYC. They recently collaborated with illustrator @andrew_teoh to launch 2 adorable tote bags! 100% of proceeds will go towards providing care packages for our elders, get yours here.
“You can’t just love yourself when you’re killing it. If you think you mastered self love, freeze up & cry loud when a thousand people are watching & see if you can find the love. That’s my living. That’s my path.” - Charlotte Nguyen
“We cannot access our intuition, our power, or connect to our spirituality if we do not heal from deep colonial trauma first.” - Dr. Rosales Meza
About Give Good Care
We imagine a world where every Asian American woman seeking culturally-relevant care can find it. Our mission is to close the mental health care gap for Asian American women in our lifetime. Learn more about our work and theory of change here.
Want to be in community with other Asian women practitioners? Passionate about caring for and serving the Asian community? Enrollment for our 3rd Give Good Care Accelerator cohort begins May 2021. This is a 6-month virtual accelerator for Asian women practitioners who want to build sustainable businesses that serve the community. Join the waitlist here!
Stay in touch by following us on Instagram or sending us an email at hello@givegoodcare.com.
Moving beyond our individual capacities