借广东同乡会的闹元宵活动主场，我们举办了一个“塞红包，送温暖”的活动，把600个$5的红包送给一个为无家可归者提供临时栖身之地的机构（Healing Transitions）。UCA WAVES的代表Lily Chen （陈建）和Wake County Commissioner Cheryl Stallings一起，将装满了600个红包的篮子交给代表Healing Transitions的Justin Garrity 。包括WRAL电视台的主持人Renee Chou在内的十几位特邀嘉宾和现场的众人一起见证了这个美好温暖的仪式。

附：感谢CAFA和小花提供的视频和部分照片。

UCA WAVES teamed up with the Guangdong Association to host a heartwarming event at their Lunar New Year celebration. Team members and guests stuffed 600 red envelopes ($5 apiece). Lily Chen of UCA WAVES, along with Wake County Commissioner Cheryl Stallings, presented a basket filled with the 600 red envelopes to Justin Garrity from Healing Transitions, an organization serving the unhoused. Over a dozen special guests, including WRAL TV Morning and Noon Anchor Renee Chou, attended the event with the crowds.

P.S. Thanks to CAFA and Xiaohua for providing videos and photos!

NAMI at Noon is a monthly webinar series covering a wide variety of mental health topics in an informative and inspiring format. Attendees will meet guest experts from around the country who will present on understanding mental illnesses, innovations in therapies and techniques, developing coping skills, and more.



In this session, we will discuss how youth in the Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) community are struggling, and mental health issues and suicide are on the rise. How can parents, educators, and mental health care providers create more positive outcomes for AAPI youth? Join community organizer and educator Jian “Lily” Chen for an open Q&A on mental health stigma and cultural identity in the Asian American community, as she shares her own experiences of parenting a child with mental illness.

Topics to be discussed:

• How cultural norms and stigma in the AAPI community make it difficult to seek help
• The importance of community dialogue and education in destigmatizing mental illness
• Ways providers can improve their cultural sensitivity for their AAPI patients/clients

So far in 2024, a total of 138 people from 28 states registered for our training sessions. 38 people have completed training and become Mental Health First Aiders! Congratulations !! 

The Mental Health First Aid Training Program aims to educate community members about mental health and boost their ability to prevent or handle crises, allowing them to become "mental health guardians" for themselves and their loved ones.

Managed by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, this certification course equips attendees with skills to recognize and respond to crises and substance abuse symptoms. Successful participants earn a globally recognized "MHFA Certificate".

UCA WAVES负责人Lily Chen被邀请参加在英国伦敦举行的2024年Royster国际会议，并在会议上做关于亚裔美国人心理健康的研究报告。Royster Society of Fellows是北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校(University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)一个极其重要的博士项目。

UCA WAVES Executive Director and PhD student Lily Chen has been invited to attend the 2024 Royster Global Conference in London, England and present her research on Asian American Mental Health. The Royster Society of Fellows is a highly selective doctoral fellowship program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

2024年1月开始，方琦老师心理成长沙龙第三期在北卡教堂山市的Seymour中心开讲。这一期的内容主要是探索“自己的潜意识”。

WAVES ran a well-attended weekly in-person seminar series titled "Make Relationships More Loving" led by Ms. Qi Fang at the Seymour Center in Chapel Hill, NC. The third session kicked off in Jan. 2024 and focused on exploring one's subconsciousness.