04/01/2026
At a recent California State Assembly Human Services Committee hearing, Asian Health Services joined its statewide community partners to testify at a state assembly hearing held by Assemblymember Alex Lee and the API Legislative Caucus.
Together, we spoke to the critical need for continued funding for the Stop the Hate state initiative and why this program is critical for communities facing hate and discrimination. With its regional partners, AHS and its partners built a robust system of community healing interventions combined with systems change initiatives. Collectively, over 500,000 survivors of hate received lay counseling and mental health support, resource navigation, emergency financial aid, food deliveries, acupuncture, support groups, community ambassadorsâ safety interventions, senior safety transportation accompaniment, leadership empowerment trainings, and more.
CEO Julia Liou provided official testimony and Ben Wang, Special Initiatives Director and Stop the Hate team members shared public comment about the critical role Regional Leads and grantees, noting that in some healing programs over 90% of clients received access to lay mental health counseling within 48 hours of case assignmentâan important lifeline during a time of severe shortages of culturally and linguistically responsive mental health care.
We will continue to stand up for programs like Stop the Hate so communities can access the healing, support, and whole-person care they deserve.
