|
The Filipino Mental Health Initiative of San Francisco is a program of FADF, The Filipino American Development Foundation. FADF’s vision provides the necessary support to strengthen and empower Filipino Americans, enabling community hubs to develop resources and assets that can benefit the local and broader community. FADF believes the Filipino cultural value of bayanihan, which means mutual assistance and mutual caring is the catalyst for community self-development and sustainability. FADF exists to strengthen the social, physical, and economic well being of the Filipino American community in the San Francisco Bay Area, with special attention to San Francisco’s South of Market community. FADF's Mission accomplishes this by: -Increasing community access to a wide range of economic, health and social services through collaboration with existing programs and the development of culturally appropriate services -Providing the Bayanihan Community Center as a space to strengthen community ties, to facilitate the sharing of resources and expertise among service providers in SOMA, and to build leadership skills and the capacity of service providers to effectively provide relevant social services to the community -Empowering Filipino American organizations through fiscal sponsorship and leadership support and guidance -Producing educational and cultural programs/events to engage and celebrate Filipino American culture and community |
Community coming together to fight evictions of four Filipino families and seniors living on Natoma Street. (SoMA, 2015. Photograph courtesy of Kodakan Photo Day, Shades of San Francisco, SFPL)
Seniors from Bayanihan Equity Center (formerly known as the Veteran's Equity Center) in attendance of the Parole Festival. (Bayanihan Community Center, 2006. Photograph courtesy of Kodakan Photo Day, Shades of San Francisco, SFPL).
|
Following the 1906 Earthquake, the South of Market area was redeveloped primarily as an industrial neighborhood, punctuated by residential enclaves typically located along the alleyways. As described in one study of SoMa, the area’s “primary economic function has been the sheltering and maintenance of a reserve army of skilled and unskilled workers” served by a network of hotels, lodging houses, pawnshops, second-hand stores, employment agencies, pool rooms, movie theaters and barber colleges “where apprentice barbers could practice and men get free haircuts.” As an overtly working-class neighborhood, the relatively cheap rents and proximity to both downtown and the waterfront made it attractive to Filipino residents, who began moving there in the years prior to World War II. Likewise, SoMa served as a seasonal destination for both agricultural and fisheries workers. Much as Manilatown developed adjacent to Chinatown, it appears that Filipinos were attracted to the South of Market by the presence of an existing Asian enclave. In particular, the South Park area by the 1920s had become a small but thriving Japantown, including the Higoyo Hotel, Biwako Baths, the Hotel Bo-Chow and the Omiya Hotel. These businesses benefited from their proximity to Piers 30-32, which were used by Japanese steamship companies. After debarkation, travelers and newly arrived immigrants would arrive at places such as the Eimoto Hotel at 22 South Park Street (today the Madrid Hotel), described as “a first stop in the United States for many Japanese residents.” These hotels also likely provided lodging for newly-arrived Filipino immigrants. Today, SOMA has become a rapidly changing neighborhood with the emergence of the Convention Center and the growing number of high-rise hotels to support the anticipated influx of tourists and convention attendees. This growth and development has greatly impacted the Filipinos living in the neighborhood. Many have been displaced, but Filipinos who immigrated years ago and called SOMA home find their way back to remember their struggles as they see the new immigrants experience similar challenges. San Francisco Filipino Heritage Addendum to the South of Market Historic Context Statement, 2013 |
|
FMHI-SF is part of the SOMA Pilipinas coalition and one of many non-profit organizations committed to the preservation of our cultural heritage and history in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood. SOMA PILIPINAS IS A CELEBRATION OF WHERE WE COME FROM, AND WHERE WE ARE GOING. Our Cultural Heritage District is a product of its people, who are resilient, creative, and determined. We live, work, play and gather here as a community. SOMA Pilipinas is a movement that is anchored in the neighborhood, our history and our people. It is a place that connects the broader community to our narrative and stories as Filipinos in America. It is a living culture — a community that's conscious of history, yet embraces progress, working together to move forward in unity and vision. SOMA Pilipinas Website, 2018 |
|
|
The Asian & Pacific Islander Mental Health Collaborative (APIMHC) is a collaborative partnership between RAMS and six community-based organizations: Samoan Community Development Center, Filipino-American Development Foundation/Bayanihan Community Center, Vietnamese Youth Development Center, Cambodian Community Development, Inc., Lao Seri Association, and Vietnamese Family Services Center. APIMHC Project offers culturally and linguistically competent mental health prevention and early intervention activities across the lifespan through multi-component, community-driven modalities: community outreach and engagement; holistic wellness promotion activities; anti-stigma campaigns; and mental health awareness dialogues." Richmond Area Multi-Services, Inc. Website, 2018 |
|
Jeannie Celestial, PhD, LCSW (she/her)Title: Licensed Clinical Psychologist; Trauma Therapist; Coach; Consultant
Languages Spoken: English, Conversational Tagalog Affiliations: Filipino Mental Health Initiative-Solano County Jeannie E. Celestial (she/her/hers) is the youngest of two anak/children of settlers from Cavite & Cebu, Philippines on Guam, Chamorro indigenous land. Her family migrated to Northern California (Ohlone Territory) where she was raised (Vallejo). Passionate about holistic health & well-being, Jeannie serves as a Clinical Psychologist, offering psychotherapy including EMDR, Attachment-Focused EMDR, and somatic embodiment for treating traumatic stress. Jeannie was one of the early core members of FMHI-SF and helped establish its sibling organization, Filipinx Mental Health Initiative-Solano (FMHI-Solano). Jeannie is a daughter, sister, wife, and mother on a journey of decolonization and liberation and is honored to support the others on this path. Jeannie earned her Doctorate in Philosophy in Clinical Psychology at Palo Alto University with an Emphasis in Clinical Neuropsychology and an Emphasis in Meditation and Psychology. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology at the University of California at Berkeley in the 1990s, where she was active in Pilipino American Alliance, Maganda Magazine, and Kapwa (which she co-founded). Celestial additionally holds a Master of Social Work degree from San Francisco State University. "FMHI-SF carries the blood of our people and is truly a represent our resiliency and also our most vulnerable. I have been honored to support FMHI-SF through the years. I believe FMHI-SF's and my service as a healer has helped destigmatize therapy and has helped change the culture about help-seeking. We are helping people to be unapologetically healing themselves and our communities. To me, mental health means being at peace and in harmony with yourself, other people, and the world. For a large majority of Filipinx folks, this might also mean being at peace with God, one's ancestors, and nature. We must promote and uplift the importance of mental health and holistic wellness in our community: 1) because we carry the stories of resilience and strength of our ancestors, 2) because it's imperative to practice self- and community care to resist the fallacy of White Supremacy and the Model Minority Myth, and 3) because we are all meant to shine and embody our innate gifts." |
|
Bernadette Sy (she/her)Title: Chief Financial Officer
Languages Spoken: English Affiliations: Filipino-American Development Foundation Bernadette Sy has worked for Filipinos serving nonprofits since 1999. She helped to launch Filipino Mental Health Initiative San Francisco and works with community based mental-health programs at the Bayanihan Community Center. It's vital that a mental health component be a part of all community services serving the Filipino community. Awareness and reducing stigma about mental health in the Filipino community is the first step toward stabilizing families and individuals who struggle with mental illness. Mental health is an important aspect of being and feeling well. Understanding what to do to manage your mood and your outlook on life is a challenge that all people experience sometime in their life. Often times communities can find comfort, strength,and healing amongst each other. This is the basis for community based wellness. |
https://www.galingbata.org/
Email: [email protected] Instagram: @galingbata Twitter: @galingbata Facebook: Galing Bata |
Filipino Education Center: Galing Bata After School Program (they/them)Languages Spoken: English, Tagalog
Affiliations: Filipino-American Development Foundation; SOMA Pilipinas; Bessie Carmichael/Filipino Education Center FEC GALING BATA PROGRAM provides vital linguistically sensitive and culturally responsive services and resources to the Transitional Kindergarten - 8th Grade students enrolled at Bessie Carmichael/FEC throughout the school year and the summer, to their families, and the community in SOMA Pilipinas, the Filipino Cultural Heritage District in San Francisco. Social-emotional learning, restorative practices and trauma-informed care are embedded in their programming. Their staff are also certified in Mental Health First Aid and are screeners for behavioral health challenges or crises. They are committed to fostering safe spaces through building intentional and trusting relationships with students and families; spaces such as a weekly middle school lunch club to celebrate Filipino culture and identity, enrichment on wellness & resilience for middle school students, weekly parent support group (GB Chikahang Good Vibes), etc. In their efforts to prioritize their students’ wellbeing, they work closely with school-day social workers, make student referrals to community resources for mental health and wellness support, are an active member of the Bessie/FEC Wellness Team and Bessie/FEC Coordinated Care Team, and collaborate with other organizations to address the mental health issues within our community (MHC, FMHI-SF, Incredible Years/Filipino Family Health Initiative, etc). We connected with FMHI-SF through our work at SFUSD with other Filipinx social workers and our work around serving the mental health needs of our students and families. Collaborating with FMHI-SF is an important part of our role as school social workers because they are connected to the community. FMHI-SF supports the community, provides safe spaces (virtually and in-person pre-COVID) for Filipinx to gather, build connections and learn from each other. Mental health is not too different from our physical health; as much as it’s necessary to take care of our physical health, it’s also important to care for our mental wellbeing. In Filipino/Filipino-American communities, mental health is not something that is talked about with families and friends because it’s something that is not physically seen and therefore not understood. This silence is making it more difficult especially for young adolescents to understand their own mental health. The intergenerational silence and stigma around mental health in our Filipino/Filipino-American culture continue to harm our youth and so as educators, mentors, and mental health experts it is our job to destigmatize this narrative of mental health, it is our job to prevent our youth from suicide ideation, and instead foster spaces that build resilience and encourage wellness. |
|
Dr. JoanMay T. Cordova (she/hers/siya)Title: Social Media/Digital Content Creator at the Filipino Mental Health Initiative-San Francisco; Professor at Silliman University-Dumaguete, Philippines; Professional Consultant in Oral History, Social Media and Nonviolence
Affiliations: Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) National President Emerita and Kingian Nonviolence Coordinating Committee Languages Spoken: English, Filipino Dr. JoanMay T. Cordova’s a professional consultant in social media, oral history, nonviolence, and curriculum. With a Filipino bilingual (K-12) credential from USF and a doctorate from Harvard University, JoanMay’s taught pre-school through doctoral students. Currently a Visiting Professor at Silliman University in Dumaguete Philippines, she's working on a new Human Security Institute with Silliman's Salonga Center for Law and Development. You’ll find her international journeys @ForCommunities on Instagram and Twitter. JoanMay began curating social media @FMHISF in 2017. By promoting FMHISF's orginal community #mentalhealth videos (produced with @sine68fims) @FMHISF engaged local and international groups who all advocate to #EndTheStigmaOnMentalHealth. "Photo by Dr. Dawn Bohulano Mabalon in July, 2018." |