apafss.org | October 2019
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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS
October is National Domestic Violence Awareness month. It began in 1981 by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence as a Day of Unity to connect battered women’s advocates across the country. In 1994 Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Unfortunately, VAWA expired in February after 25 years, efforts to renew the Act has been stalled in the Senate.
Domestic Violence (DV) prevention is part of APA's mission. Under the Violence Against Women Project funded by the San Francisco Department on the Status of Women, APA/Asian and Pacific Islander Family Resources Network offers linguistically and culturally appropriate home visitation, prevention education, outreach, and intervention services to immigrant Asian and Pacific Islander (API) women, girls, and their families who are at risk for domestic violence and sexual assault.
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APA is a partner with San Francisco Department on the Status of Women, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, the San Francisco Police Department, and La Casa de las Madres for the Bayview Domestic Violence High Risk Program funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Violence Against Women.
Through this project, APA assists partners with the development of an outreach strategy to API residents living in San Francisco’s Southeast neighborhoods, focusing on implementing outreach strategy to support Domestic Violence survivors in Bayview through community events and home visitation program.
Abusive behaviors can take many forms including physical, sexual, verbal, emotional, economic, elder abuse, and control over the...
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PROGRAM SUCCESS
Support and Assistance For Abused Spouse To Start New Life
Josephine came to San Francisco with her baby in 2017 to reunite with her husband, Tim. They live in an SRO (single room occupancy) building, Josephine would stay in their small room to care for their baby while Tim worked. He took care of all the expenses and didn’t give Josephine any spending money. Not long after Josephine's arrival, Tim started verbally abusing her. He would even get physical at times.
One day, Tim suddenly ordered Josephine to move out. Being all alone with no family members in the U.S., Josephine didn’t know where or who to turn to for help. In her despair, she recalled having heard about APA Family Support Services and came to our office to seek help.
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5 QUESTIONS With Our Program Manager
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Susan Dip
Susan received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Welfare from UC Berkeley. She joined APA in 2005, starting out as an administrative assistant. Since then, she worked in different positions. This is her 14th year with the agency.
In her current role as Program Manager, Susan oversees the Domestic Violence Prevention program and services as well as court-ordered supervised visits for families. She also shares responsibilities as part of the management team in planning activities for staff development and events for clients.
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Why did you join the Agency?
Growing up, I knew I wanted to be in the field where I was helping others, therefore I chose Social Welfare for my major.
Lucky for me, APA gave me an opportunity right after college. Although tiring at times, the work is very rewarding.
What do you appreciate about the services that APA provides?
I appreciate that the staff is culturally competent and that the services are provided in the participants’ native languages. Services are also available in different neighborhoods in San Francisco.
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What would you like to see APA accomplish for the future?
I'd like to see APA continue the great work serving the community. To make our current programs even stronger and to have the capacity to serve more families.
Tell us about your family?
My husband and I have a son who is five and a daughter who is seven-month-old.
What do you do in your leisure time?
I love to spend time with my kids, exposing them to the outdoors and letting them explore. I also enjoy trying new recipes to cook in my Instant Pot.
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Visitacion Valley Community Unity (VVCU) hosted the San Francisco District Attorney Candidates Forum on October 17 evening for the public to meet the candidates. Close to 100 attendees were there at 66 Raymond Avenue's Visitacion Valley Family Center.
Visitacion Valley Strong Families, one of APA's family resource center, is part of Community Unity. Other members are APACC (Asian Pacific American Community Center), River of Life and VV residents. At the event, more residents signed up to join VVCU as general members. The mission of this community collaboration is to help Visitacion Valley's people-groups come together, work together, and stand together in unity to improve quality of life in Visitacion Valley.
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PARTNERSHIP IN ADVANCING HEALTH EQUITY
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On October 22, SFHIP (San Francisco Health Improvement Partnership) organized its triennial Community Health Needs Assessment Breakfast at San Francisco's Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption. The event was attended by over 200 representatives of community organizations, hospitals and health care leaders, and agency heads. The event focus was "Advancing Health Equity." Speakers shared the major findings from the Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) report (39-page PDF) and key efforts to address the priority health needs of San Franciscans. They identified 3 priorities for SFHIP: Economic Inclusion, Food Security and Community Healing (from trauma).
Images: (left) SFHIP's Strategic Project Manager, Jose Jimenez and Senior Strategic Project Manager, Dara Geckeler. (center) Amor Santiago, APA's Executive Director, has been the Co-chair of SFHIP along with Jim Illig of Kaiser Permanente, and was the emcee for the event.
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APA participated in the 15th Annual Chinatown Resource Fair sponsored by the District Attorney's Office at the Portsmouth Square on October 19. We had about 40-50 families come through that day. The event aims to to engage with members of the...
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On October 8, five parents/grandparents from APA's Excelsior family support center celebrated their graduation form our ACT Parenting Class. This class is held twice a year at one or two of our locations. The parenting class is comprised of nine...
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We were at the San Francisco City Hall for the October 2 Domestic Violence Awareness Month Launch. Over a dozen activist groups and community organizations gathered at the City Hall Steps on Polk Street to hear Mayor London Breed; Emily Murase, Director of...
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APA's mission is to promote healthy children and families by providing family support services to prevent child abuse and domestic violence. We also advocate for culturally competent services for Asians and Pacific Islanders through education, community building and leadership development.
APA Family Support Services is a 501(c)(3) non-profit agency. Your contribution to support APA is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT & THANKS
Received -- September 21-October 28, 2019 Donations
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Platinum Level:
Robert Joseph Louie Memorial Fund
Silver Level: HSBC Bank (USA)
Venable Foundation
Bronze Level: Magenta, Inc. (monthly)
Friends of APA: Portsmouth Plaza Parking Corp.
(This is the 2nd half of their Bronze level support)
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Chair Rose Chung Asian America Foundation
President Cary Chen Recology
Vice President Jacqueline Huie First Republic Bank
Secretary Julie Hoxie University of California, Berkeley
Treasurer Joyce Tso, CPA/ABV ASAM, LLP
Mai-Sie Chan, M.D. Private Practice
Van Diep KTSF-TV, Channel 26
Stephen Koh, CLF MassMutual Financial Group
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Fanny Lam COMPASS Real Estate
Kory Lam HSBC Bank (USA)
Susan Sung, Ph.D., Professor Emerita
San Francisco State University
Dean Yao, Ph.D. Logi Analytics
Rick Yuen, Assistant Dean Emeritus, Stanford University
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Amor Santiago, DPM, MPH
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