What is AAMH?

The Asian Alliance for Mental Health (formerly known as API Cares) is a registered student organization at the University of Washington that aims to de-stigmatize mental health through open dialogue and multimedia storytelling to bring visibility to mental health issues within Asian communities. Our primary goal is to build a community network and safe space for Asians to discuss mental health as well as provide resources for those in need of support.

What is our history?

AAMH (formally API Cares) founded in 2015, and started as a committee after the passing of a friend who struggled with mental health. The committee strived to find a space to confront mental health stigmas and got many Asian organizations across campus involved. In July 2015, we planned and hosted a conference, to raise awareness and get trained on discussing mental health. After nine months of planning, our conference was made possible in addition with the involvement and sponsorship of CAPAA. This conference included five different workshop topics, with the discussion session facilitated by master and graduate students being the biggest takeaway and most valuable. From this experience, we shifted our focus to sharing our experiences and having a space to be vulnerable.

Thus, AAMH (API Cares) was formed and emphasized on building a community that promotes and offers a safe environment to have conversations and to heal.

Our Values

Dedication: Our pains, struggles, personal experiences with mental health have inspired us to take action on this issue. With this conviction, we strive to spread awareness of and advocate for mental health within Asian American communities. We also connect vulnerable and at-risk students to appropriate mental health resources.

Collaboration: We recognize that in order to fulfill our mission, we need to bring each of our diverse experiences, skill sets, and personalities to the table and work cohesively as a team. Advocating for mental health is a team sport and thus the responsibility is shared by all of us.

Honesty: It's the best policy. By being 'real' with each other and speaking our truths, we can be our most authentic self. Our authenticity shows up in how we treat each other, handle conflict, and solve problems.

Accountability: Whatever we do, we are upfront if we make a mistake and are proactive when it comes to fixing that mistake. Blaming others or the circumstances that surround the mistake is beneath who we are and denigrates the quality of our work.

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