Solidarity, Healing, and Awareness
CPAF Family,
It has been a heavy year, and the alarming increase in anti-Asian violence has affected us all. As an organization largely staffed by Asian and Asian American women, which provides services and support to Asian immigrant women and families who have experienced violence, we are grappling with our own feelings of grief, anger, and fear right now. We would like to express our gratitude to everyone who has reached out to offer support to and solidarity with CPAF staff, volunteers, and board.
CPAF has created space for staff and volunteers to process the events, participated in rallies in Koreatown and Little Tokyo, provided allyship to CPAF's Rooted Leadership Project youth in their own efforts to speak out, and released a statement in the immediate aftermath of the Atlanta shootings. As an agency, we recognize that violence is not just an individual act, but also a product of racial and sociopolitical systems that make women, immigrants, people of color, and other groups especially vulnerable to harm. Trauma is experienced on both an individual and community level and in our commitment to support survivors and build community, we sincerely hope to be a resource for community healing. If you need a place to process, the CPAF hotline (1-800-339-3940) is available 24/7.
Art and Writing for Healing
Submissions for CPAF's first ever (maga)zine are due this Monday, April 12th, 2021 at 5 p.m. The CPAF Zine Committee is collecting writing and artwork to be published in a digital and printed collection, then distributed in communities throughout LA County!!
Anyone in CPAF's community (CPAF staff, friends of staff, Board Members, clients, youth participants and leaders, volunteers, community partners, Instagram followers, and more) is welcome to participate.
The theme is Nurturing Change: Where We've Been, Where We Are, and Where We're Going. More information, including suggested prompts, are included on the submission form.
Buy a T-Shirt to Support CPAF
In response to hate and harassment against Asians, Unassimilated Asian Americans designed T-shirts for friends and family. When they realized the interest in the shirts had grown beyond their immediate circle, they decided to print additional shirts and donate the proceeds to a nonprofit organization. They partnered with Merch House (who is covering printing and production costs), and selected CPAF as the beneficiary after learning about the work we do from friends who had attended CPAF’s annual gala, and friends who were involved in Project by Project, one of CPAF’s community partners.
Unassimilated Asian Americans shared the inspiration for the project on their Instagram:
We chose the word "unassimilated" to wear over our hearts because assimilation was our grandparents and parents' definition of the American dream. It came at a cost.... So let us be unassimilated. Let us be our beautiful, unique, Asian selves. Let us stand up for what we believe in, chase the dreams we want to pursue, and love who we want to love.
You can purchase a shirt here.
Sexual Assault Awareness Month
At CPAF, we support survivors year-round. However, Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) in April provides a unique opportunity to bring awareness to sexual assault prevention. We invite you to participate in NSRVC’s #30DaysofSAAM Challenge on your own or send your photos to development@cpaf.info to be featured on CPAF’s Instagram.
Prevention and Outreach Updates
CPAF Addresses Zoom Fatigue with San Gabriel High School
During the pandemic, the shift to virtual teaching, meetings, and working has come with plenty of challenges. Two issues identified by administrators at San Gabriel High School (CPAF’s school partner) were Zoom fatigue and the loss of casual social interactions. CPAF's prevention team members, Willie and Matilda, used the platform Gather, a video-calling space that seeks to recreate the in-person experience of walking in and out of conversations, to design a virtual “teachers’ lounge” as a place for teachers to go and relax during the pandemic. They presented this idea to SGHS administration, who loved it so much they invited CPAF to introduce it to SGHS department heads at an upcoming monthly meeting.
Check out the image below for a snapshot of our virtual “Teachers’ Lounge.” For more information, about how to design your own Gather-Town project, feel free to reach out to CPAF’s Prevention Team at cpafprevention@gmail.com.
Online Advocate Training
We are hosting another Online Advocate Training starting on May 7th, which will be a mix of pre-recorded video sessions that participants watch at home on their own time and live Zoom sessions on Fridays from 9am – 12:30pm. This is a great opportunity for our friends, colleagues, and community partners to join for a refresher course or add to their awareness of and sensitivity to survivors of DV and SA in their day-to-day work. The training is FREE for all participants. If you are interested or have questions about the training, please email racheld@cpaf.info or Register Here.
