02/13/2025
Today, 2/13/25, we are pausing our volunteer programs—Mental Health First (MH1) and First Responders—to restructure, reshape, and retool for the future.
First Responders was APTP’s first program. It trained hundreds of community members to respond to incidents of state violence. While OPD no longer murders Black and Brown people with impunity, harm continues—racial profiling, police brutality, sexual violence, and wrongful incarceration.
We’ve also seen the growing need to respond to intra-community violence. This requires us to pause and rebuild First Responders for today’s political context.
MH1, launched in 2019–2020, was inspired by our co-founders' years of crisis response. It’s aimed at eliminating our people’s reliance on the state during mental health crises. We’ve heard your concerns and are restructuring MH1 to ensure it’s more sustainable and impactful.
We’ll pause both programs for 3–6 months to realign and grow. We remain committed to Healing Justice as a core strategy, led by Black leadership.
Thank you for your continued support. Together, we’ll rebuild stronger.
