Services

Program & Health Services:

RELAY After School Program (Responsible Leadership and Action for Youth)
Contact: Ge Thao 303/782-5225

• Intensive mentorship and after school program for middle school youth
• Activities:
• Mentoring
• Life skills curriculum
• Tutoring
• Current Schools:
• Merrill Middle School (Denver Public Schools)

 

Asian Youth Mentorship
Contact: Ge Thao 303/782-5225

• Reduce incidence of youth crime, delinquency behavior and violence while increasing resiliency, emotional stability, self-reliance and educational performance,
• Activities:
• One to one mentoring
• Tobacco free curriculum
• Social and educational excursions
• Camping trips
• Currently serves 20 AA/PI youth residing in Adam County and attending Adams County School District 50 who are from Hmong, Laotian, Vietnamese and Cambodian communities
• Funded by the Tony Grampsas Youth Service Grant from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
• Community partners:
  • Adams County School District 50
  • Hmong Community Center
  • Community Action on Alcohol and Tobacco
  • Adams County District Attorney’s Youth Initiative
  • Get Real Peer Mentoring of Colorado
  • Tri-County Health Department
  • Adams County Social Services Department
  • Links Youth Services

 

Interpreters Bank
Contact:  John Cung 303/365-2959 x 114

• On Site or Over the Phone Language Interpretation & Translation
• Settings:
  • Legal
  • Medical
  • Business
  • General
• Current clients:
• Hospitals
• Clinics
• Insurance companies
• Courts
• Law Firms
• Schools
• Local department of social services
• Individuals
• Interpreting organizations
• Funding:
• Private pay fee for service

 

Eliminating Tobacco Related Disparities (Continuation Project)
Contact:  Ivy Hontz 303/365-2959 x 107

• Purpose of increasing community capacity for tobacco control:
• Expand needs assessment activities and Board membership to four new AAPI communities indicated based on earlier project phases
• Expand AAPI youth tobacco needs assessment
• Engage the Advisory Board in community readiness assessment
• Train and engage Advisory Board members in strategic planning and infrastructure development activities, such as grant-making
• Develop materials that can be used by others working in tobacco control and health disparities to replicate the project
• Community capacity building objectives:
• Increase AAPI-specific information on tobacco issues
• Train and engage a core AAPI leadership for tobacco control
• Increase dialogue within AAPI communities concerning tobacco control and create forums for obtaining broad community input
• Provide Asian organizations with opportunities to receive grant-writing training and to apply for funds to raise community awareness concerning the effects of tobacco
• Create a replication manual to share project activities, strategies and lessons learned with others working in the fields of tobacco control and health disparities
• Key Accomplishments:
• Established an advisory board of 27 AAPI members, who represented 9 different Asian ethnic groups
• Guided key aspects of the project and participated in four trainings with the following tobacco control leaders:
• CTEPA
• APPEAL
• Tri-County Health Department
• STEPP
• 9 community meetings were held in each of the 9-targeted Asian communities to gather community input
• 112 AAPIs took part in focus group discussions following the meeting presentations
• Over 50 research articles were abstracted and synthesized
• Youth survey was conducted, as well as focus groups with youth and higher and lower socioeconomic groups of AAPIs
• Interviews with eight national tobacco control experts who work with AAPIs are currently underway
• Project information is being summarized in a research brief.    
• Statewide Tobacco Strategic Plan:
• Reduce tobacco-related disparities and objective of increasing capacity and infrastructure within priority populations to address disparities: 
• Conducting community assessments
• Forming and maintaining a community advisory board to guide the project
• Holding community forums to involve members and obtain input. 
• Future strategies:
• Building community infrastructure necessary to build, strengthen and develop tobacco control initiatives
• Providing culturally competent materials and services
• Providing TA and consultation to state staff and contractors.
• Communities served:
• Chinese
• Taiwanese
• Hmong
• Laotian
• Cambodian
• Vietnamese
• Korean
• Japanese
• Thai
• Pacific Islander
• Indian
• Filipino
• Mongolian
• Funding:
• STEPP (State Tobacco Education Prevention Partnership) of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
• Community Partners:
• OMNI Institute
• The Shirely Tafoya Enterprise

Youth Strengthening Youth
Contact:  Karl Chwe 303/365-2959 x 112

• Three main program goals:
• Reduce or maintain tobacco, alcohol and drug abuse levels in program participants
• Increase leadership and peer counseling skills in program participants
• Increase perceived social support from peers in program participants
• Services provided:
• Life skills curriculum proven to reduce substance abuse among participants, community service projects
• Membership in a supportive, pro-social community
• Crisis support as needed
• Community served:
• Asian-American/Pacific Islander
• High school students in the Denver metro area
• 35 new participants each year
• Funding for this program some from several different sources:
• The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division (ADAD) of the Colorado Department of Human Services
• The Tony Grampsas Tobacco Initiative (TTI) of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
• The State Tobacco Education and Prevention Partnership (STEPP) of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
• The Colorado Asian Pacific Bar Association
• Community Partners:
• The Asian Education Advisory Council of Denver Public Schools
• Rangeview High School of the Aurora Public School District
• Calwood Education Center
• Various area high school counselors (nominate students for the program)

 

Asian Women’s Health Program
Contacts:  Colorado Springs & El Paso County Region: Yofang Huang 719/533-1301
Denver position vacant: 303/365-2959 x 101

• Community:
• Asian Women in Denver, Colorado Springs and El Paso County
• Communities served:
• Korean
• Chinese
• Vietnamese
• Pilipino
• Indonesian
• Indian
• Program Goals:
• Increase access to breast exams and mammograms
• Increase the awareness among the Asian women on the importance of breast health, particularly those with limited English speaking ability
• Collaborate with other community organization/ agencies, medical facilities proving breast health education, screening and treatment via community devices
• Services:
• Direct access for CBE and mammogram
• Translation and service coordination assistance from bicultural and bilingual navigators
• Workshops and educational materials provided for ten Asian faith based and community organizations in respective native languages
• Community Partners:
• El Paso County
• Department of Health and Environment
• Peak Vista Community Health Center
• Planned Parenthood
• Sense of Security
• Memorial Hospital
• Penrose Cancer Center
• Health South
• Penrad Imaging
• Pikes Peak Library
• Funding:
• Colorado Springs Affiliate of Susan G Komen for the Cure

Equality in Health Initiative, Hepatitis B
Contact: position vacant 303/365-2959 x 109

• Purpose:
• Increase culturally competent health education
• Improve access
• Romote screening of hepatitis B from each of these Colorado communities:
• Korean
• Chinese
• Vietnames
• Three primary goals of the Hepatitis B/Equality in Health Project:
• Community capacity-building
• Community health education
• Mobilize for hepatitis B screening and vaccinations
• Activities:
• Education sessions in each community about the health risks of hepatitis B
• General health education materials distributed throughout each community
  • In English and the respective Asian ethnic native languages
• Educational presentations done with church and/or community leaders
• Screen 200 people per community for hepatitis B
• The School of Nursing organizes and trains volunteers to administer blood testing in 1-4 sites per community
  • Three part vaccinations
• Advisory group roles for all three communities:
• The best faith-based sites
• Accessible sites
• Strategies for working with the community
• Community Partners:
• Colorado Trust (Grant Funding December 2005 to December 2010)
• 9Health fairs:
• Help APDC provide education materials to additional communities in need:
  • Thai
  • Hmong
  • Laotian
  • Pilipino
  • Mongolian
  • Cambodian
• UCHSC School of Nursing, Dr. Haeok Lee
• American Liver Foundation
• Asian Liver Center at Stanford
• Gilead Sciences
• Region 8 Minority Health Office
• Chinese American Council of Colorado
• Student organizations on local campuses, such as the Korean Student Association and Taiwanese Student Association
  • Providing:
    • Volunteer assistance
    • Insight on cultural traditions and resources
    • Help to provide valuable connections for lasting capacity building in these communities

English as a Second Language
Contact:  Michaely Robinson 303/365-2959 x 119

• Purpose:
• Teach non-English speakers conversation English
• Funding:
• Colorado Department of Education
• Individual fees
• Partners in the community (among others):
• The City of Aurora
• Aurora Public Schools
• St. Lawrence Korean Catholic Church