36 Years Of Strengthening Family Connection

APAFSS Milestones

  • 1987

    Founding of Asian Perinatal Advocates by Dr. Don Wong at San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH). In-Home Support Program and Bilingual Infant Care Workshop at SFGH.

  • 1993

    Domestic Violence Women’s Support Group

  • 1995

    Establish API Family Hotline

  • 1997

    Opening of Family Support Center in Chinatown

  • 1998

    Launching of the API Family Resource Network (APIFRN) and Bilingual Counseling Program

  • 1999

    Community Leadership Award by The San Francisco Foundation. Launch Domestic Violence Prevention Project.

  • 2001

    Opening of APAFSS Counseling & Network Center. Launch CalWORKS Employment Program.

  • 2002

    Launch SafeStart Initiative Project/ Parenting Radio Project/ Kinship Support Groups/ Healthy SRO Children & Families Program.

  • 2003

    Launch Back to Work and Towards Independence Program/ Early Literacy Program/ Home-Based Early Head Start Program/ Newborn Home Visitation Project/ School Readiness Initiative/ Smoke Cessation Education Project/ Family Ambassdor Program.

  • 2005

    Community Achievement Award by Organization of Chinese Americans - San Francisco Bay Chapter

    Launch Blue Shield Mental Health Project for Domestic Violence Families/ Differential Response Project

  • 2006

    Launch Asian Health Education Project

  • 2007

    Changed name to APA Family Support Services

    Launched Reducing Maternal Depression in API Families Project/ South East Families Are United (SEFAU) Project.

  • 2010

    Mai-Mai Ho retires after 28 years of leadership

    Dr. Amor Santiago joins APA as the new E.D.

  • 2012

    Expanded services to Visitacion Valley/ Launched Family Resource Center in Chinatown

    Purchased our headquarter at North Beach

  • 2013

    50 Raymond Ave

  • 2014

    Dr. Santiago, APA E.D. named founding Co-Chair of the API Council, led API Council’s study/seminal report, “API Health and Wellness.” Released to Mayor Lee, results in $5M to API nonprofits.

  • 2016

    Entrusted by the City of San Francisco to lead the collaborative Visitacion Valley Community Hub at 50 & 66 Raymond Ave.

    Rose Chung, Board President for over 20 years is named Chair and President Emerita.

  • 2017

    Celebrating 30th Anniversary, honoring Founder Dr. Don Wong

    Awarded contracts to operate 3 Family Resource Centers in San Francisco

  • 2020

    Rick Yuen became APA ED and led APA through pandemic and continued to provide services to the needed community.

  • 2022

    Welcomed Fanny Lam as the new ED at APAFSS.

    Celebrating 35th Anniversary with Chinatown community.

  • 2022

    Celebrating the 35th anniversary with the community by moving the anniversary event to the street.

  • 2022

    The establishment of the APAFSS Volunteer Network.

  • 2023

    The first Children Art Contest was launched in February.

  • 2023

    Launched the first HSA AAPI Food Program in Visitacion Valley in September. The Program was extended to Sunnydale and Chinatown in November.

  • 2023

    The expansion of Chinatown Family Resources Center in December, moving into our own center at 518 Grant Avenue.

History

Founded in 1987 by Dr. Don Wong, APA consists of professionals and experienced home visitors who help families at-risk cope with the challenges of raising young children. For much of APA’s history, our focus was on mainly the Asian and Pacific Islander populations of San Francisco. The obstacles created by language barriers and by cultural conflicts in conjunction with unfamiliarity of western medicine, child care practices, and appropriate parenting skills often prevented our families from seeking and finding the resources necessary to overcome their difficulties. Family violence, social isolation, depression, and financial hardship were commonplace. Due to their cultural beliefs and language barriers, APA was one of the few resources these Asian mothers had in their new homes in the United States. We recognized this need and sought to help these families become stable and healthy environments through providing linguistically and culturally appropriate services such as in-home visits, emotional support, and translation services.

Through the years, the community that we serve has changed. In the early years of APA, our clients were almost all new immigrants who came to the United States through arranged marriages or as refugees from Southeast Asian countries. Today, our client base not only includes these immigrants but also all families who face the challenges of parenthood. When parents face hardships such as financial insecurity, and familial problems, incidents of domestic violence and child neglect are more likely to occur. That is why APA’s mission is to create healthy families by providing domestic violence and child abuse prevention services. We do this not only through case management but also through services at our family resource centers. By providing parents a safe and welcoming place outside of their home, they increase their social circles and have a forum to gain their voice.

As We Grow…

APA Family Support Services is San Francisco's foremost advocate and service provider for at-risk Asian and Pacific Islander children and their families. Created with the goal of providing culturally competent services for new Asian immigrants in the community, we have since branched out, our services are made available to families of all ethnicities.

We have expanded from our San Francisco General Hospital location to 7 offices in 5 neighborhoods throughout the city. Between our main location in Chinatown and our three locations in Visitacion Valley, APA is able to reach and provide services to over 8,000 families annually, in different languages and dialects -- Cantonese, Mandarin, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, Thai, and Spanish.

Our agency's team of experienced and passionate professionals share the common goal of promoting and maintaining a safe and happy home environment for our families.

We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Funding for our work comes from government contracts, foundation grants, corporate sponsorship, private donations, and car donations. Our annual fundraising Gala is in July.