The Asian Pacific Development Center is a non-profit organization assisting Asian immigrants in the

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, metropolitan area. Founded in 1980 to provide outpatient

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental hea ...

therapy and counseling, it expanded its offerings a few years later to include acclimation assistance including classes in

English as a second language English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages. Language education for people learning English may be known as English as a second language (ESL), English as a foreign language (EF ...

, job placement, and youth activities. The center provides interpreters and translation services in courts, hospitals, and businesses as well. Services are available in 35 different languages.

History

The Asian Pacific Development Center was founded in October 1980. Large numbers of Asian refugees had emigrated to Colorado following the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, and a significant number were showing signs of

posttraumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on ...

and depression. The center was formed by leaders of the city's

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous peopl ...

and

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Ocea ...

communities, including "social workers, attorneys, psychologists and psychiatrists living in Denver", and services were provided by these professionals. In the 21st century, the center's clientele expanded as additional groups of refugees landed in Colorado, including immigrants from

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republi ...

(estimated at 25,000 in the Denver area in 2000) and

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountai ...

(estimated at 3,500 in 2008). The center initially offered mental health therapy and counseling on an outpatient basis. After

Sumiko Hennessy Sumiko Tanaka Hennessy (born November 8, 1937) is an American social worker, trauma therapist, academic, and activist for the Asian-American community in Denver, Colorado. Born in Yokohama, Japan, she earned her Master of Social Work degree at For ...

, a Japanese-born professor of

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

, became executive director in 1984, the center's services were expanded to help "overcome the Asian discomfort with mental health assistance". Classes in

, employment counseling, and youth activities were introduced at this time.

Services

The center offers services geared to youth, teens, and adults/seniors. After-school programs for youth include

life skills Life skills are abilities for adaptive and positive behavior that enable humans to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of life. This concept is also termed as psychosocial competency. The subject varies greatly depending on social norm ...

workshops, tutoring, mentoring, and leadership training. Teens are assisted with placement in summer internships in corporate environments. The adults and seniors component reflects the center's initial founding as a mental health clinic, providing "psychological and psychiatric evaluation, medication therapy, individual and family therapy, day treatment, counseling for domestic abuse perpetrators, and alcohol-abuse education and therapy". Employment counseling and job placement are also provided. The center responds to community needs as they arise. In 1985, staff addressed the problem faced by

mail-order bride A mail-order bride is a woman who lists herself in catalogs and is selected by a man for marriage. In the twentieth century, the trend was primarily towards women living in developing countries seeking men in more developed nations. The majority ...

s in the Asian American community. Asian girls and women, primarily from the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, had been photographed in suggestive poses and advertised in American men's magazines. The women, hoping to marry good husbands, were often abused by the men who chose them. The Asian Pacific Development Center sought to ameliorate the problem by opening support groups and counseling services for the maltreated wives, and furnished referrals to

women's shelter A women's shelter, also known as a women's refuge and battered women's shelter, is a place of temporary protection and support for women escaping domestic violence and intimate partner violence of all forms. The term is also frequently used t ...

s. In 2017, the center sought to assist immigrant and refugee artists in Aurora to establish businesses, offering "free mentoring, marketing and portfolio workshops". In 2018, the center opened a small garden adjacent to its facility to service new immigrants who had been used to farming and a more active lifestyle in their native lands and now felt "depressed and isolated". In 2018, the center was awarded a $980,000 grant in conjunction with the Denver District Attorney's office to provide services to victims of

human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extr ...

Staff

As of 1998, the center had a staff of 73 assisting approximately 2,500 clients in the Denver metropolitan area. Counselors communicate with clients in 21 languages, while interpreters expand that reach to 35 languages. The interpreters are also available to translate on behalf of clients in courts, hospitals, and businesses. Japanese-American professor

served as executive director of the center from 1984 to 2000.

Location

After a series of moves, the center entered its current home at 1537 Alton St. in

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

in 2013.

Awards

In 1998 the center received the Community Health Leadership Award from the

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is an American philanthropic organization. It is the largest one focused solely on health. Based in Princeton, New Jersey, the foundation focuses on access to health care, public health, health equity, ...

; the $100,000 cash prize was used to fund relocation to a larger facility.

References

Sources

*{{cite book, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ER_kf0pWJZUC&pg=PA255, title=Women of Consequence: The Colorado Women's Hall of Fame, first=Jeanne, last=Varnell, publisher=Big Earth Publishing, year=1999, isbn=1555662145 Asian-American culture in Colorado Mental health organizations based in Colorado 1980 establishments in Colorado