Belonging & Allyship By: Maya Kageyama Growing up in a small town in Northern California, I didn’t learn about Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) leaders, activists or artists in school. I didn’t even know that May was Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM) until I started working for…

We’re still growing. By: Lauren Pongan Normally, I love spontaneity and adventure. But in this pandemic I’ve watched myself take new comfort in building rituals like daily walks to my neighborhood rose garden and ceremonies like lighting candles every night at dinner. I’ve been keeping a visual journal with my housemates to record…

Sometimes change can be good. By: AJ Titong For most of you, I imagine that shelter-in-place has felt new and strange. For me, it’s felt uncomfortably familiar. Shuffling through cycles of feeling isolated, helpless, and uncertain of the future took me back to my days of going through cancer treatments. What I’ve learned is that…

Staying Rooted By: Marianne Chung Depending where you are in the country, this may be week 3 or 4 or 5 of our new normal. It’s easy to be anxious and feel uncertain at this moment, so it is important to make time and space to be rooted. …

The New Normal By: Bonnie Kwon Growing up, my mom would wake up early to carefully prepare and pack handmade treats, extra clothes and, if I was lucky, fruit snacks for me on school picnic days. She would use a large square cloth to wrap up the goodies and finish it with…

Offering Hope and Inspiration During a Time of Crisis By: Kathy Ko Chin I hope you and your loved ones are healthy and well, as we wish that for all people around the world at this moment in time. Unfortunately, the pandemic is hitting us hard, even if we or our loved ones aren’t sick, this pandemic is affecting…

By: Bonnie Kwon and Marianne Chung We’ve all been inundated with news, concerns and questions as we navigate unprecedented levels of uncertainty around the coronavirus pandemic. Here at APIAHF we’re trying to slow down, and remind each other to breathe. …

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program, one of the only racially and ethnically focused public health programs at the federal level. Throughout its history, REACH has created a network of public and…

Kathy Ko Chin President & CEO, Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum In 1966, Martin Luther King, Jr. declared, “of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhuman.” Yet, over fifty years later, inequities in health and health care are still pervasive…