Since the launch of Christian Asian Mental Health, I (DJ) have engaged in numerous conversations with ministry leaders, counselors, researchers, nonprofits, advocates, and friends, every one of them very encouraging. Here’s a year in review.
I was also blessed to receive a couple dozen donations from partners who supported CAMH in its infancy. This funding helped to cover some of the travel expenses, as I volunteered for this startup effort. I am sincerely grateful for each and every one of these gifts received! Also, I am grateful for the fiscal sponsorship of Asian American Christian Collaborative to launch CAMH with a nonprofit status. And, I thank my co-founder, Jefferson Lee, for his help with crafting a compelling case statement for why CAMH is addressing this urgent need.
The summer of 2023 has accelerated the CAMH initiative’s development, as DJ travelled monthly to share the vision of CAMH, learn how to develop CAMH further, launched a mental health ministry at The Garden Church (Chatsworth, California), attending a couple national mental health conferences. The urgency of mental health needs has prompted us to take another big step of faith.
By God’s divine orchestration, one person in particular has become a great companion for this faith venture and adventure, Pastor Jin Lee in Atlanta, Georgia. CAMH will now be “housed” within Catalyst Coalition and Pastor Jin and Catalyst Coalition is committed to covenantal relationship for CAMH to thrive.
Together with Pastor Jin, we are working on something called Catalyst Wellness Alliance (CWA). We don’t have an official statement yet; here’s what we can say unofficially: CWA is committing to bring together churches, pastors, counselors, researchers, and nonprofits to serve the needs of mental wellness for our AAPI population.
And, here’s the announcement: DJ Chuang is now the Executive Director of CWA and CAMH has transitioned to be a program of CWA. Thank you Jin for being my friend and real ally for this new alliance!
What difference does this make to you? Donations for CAMH will be received as part of CWA. That’s all. CAMH will stay focused on advancing care & compassion by launching and developing mental health ministries in partnership with Asian & Asian American churches. CAMH will keep on sharing our learnings at this blog with a clear intent to being open source and building in public, so we can serve as many people as possible.
More communications will be forthcoming about the launching of Catalyst Wellness Alliance. Yes, we have much work to do. Appreciate your prayers and partnerships. Suggestions and feedback are welcome.
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