25th Annual Asian American Mental Health Conference - Overcoming Stigma, Shame and Isolation
Amazing Girl Scout Troops Design and Create Improved Spaces for APCTC Clients
Bronze. Silver. Gold. These represent the highest honors a Girl Scout can earn. Each year, enterprising and creative Girl Scouts create projects to help communities, effect change and make the world a bit better for all! The 17-year old Katherine Dodge, a 12th grader at Mark Keppel High School, is an ‘Ambassador’ level Girl Scout for Troop 9011. For her Gold Award Project she was determined to help less fortunate children and families. She proposed a renovation project centered on APCTC’s play therapy room - a key component of children and TAY centered services. She meticulously planned a new youth-friendly space complete with fresh paint, new furniture and toys. The result was a fresh, positive and welcoming space for children and youth to relax, play and heal. Great job Katherine!
The 8th graders Kiyomi Banta (age 13; Girls Academic Leadership Academy) and Airi Montoya (age 13; Dodson Middle School) both from Troop 12135 are ‘Senior’ level Girl Scouts. For their Silver Award Project they decided to focus on helping children. Learning that many APCTC families are unable to afford children’s clothes they decided to convert a narrow and old storage area into a cool kid-sized boutique filled with children’s clothes and a full-length mirror. APCTC parents, children and youth can shop clothes for free all year around. They plan to continue collecting new or gently used clothes to sustain the closet year around. Thank you Kiyomi and Airi!
APCTC Receives Generous Backpack Donation
APCTC Main and Alhambra Center received a generous donation of backpacks and school supplies for their child clients. A local philanthropist named Christopher Murakami started a community donation project using social media to market his venture and developed a small network of people who shared his same passion for giving back to the community. APCTC staff were familiar with Christopher and once they discovered his project on Instagram they shared APCTC’s mission and a great opportunity came of it. Christopher rallied for APCTC and through his network of partners collected 70 backpacks and a variety of school supplies for children for the new school year. Christopher is continuing to find more partners who will be collecting gifts for children during the upcoming holidays. APCTC is so grateful to Christopher and his partners and is looking forward to what’s to come from this relationship!
