CACF Launches Healing Ourselves, Healing Our Communities Youth Fellowship in Buffalo

The continued expansion of CACF’s leadership programming in Western New York is an illustration of the organization’s commitment to AAPI communities across New York State

Our Buffalo Healing Ourselves, Healing Our Communities Youth Fellows Anmoldeep Kaur, Lwe K'paw Saw, Jane-Roz Abbe, and Htee Paw pose for a group photo alongside CACF's Senior Program Coordinator Kristen Sze-Tu. (Photo credit: CACF)

BUFFALO, New York (January 30, 2025) ---The Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF) is proud to announce that its acclaimed Healing Ourselves, Healing Ourselves Youth Fellowship launched its first Buffalo-based fellowship cohort earlier this month in partnership with local nonprofits Bridges from Borders and Buffalo String Works.

Youth Fellows Anmol Kaur and Jane-Roz Abbe will be based at Bridges from Borders while Htee Paw and Lwe K'Paw Saw will be facilitating at Buffalo String Works.

First launched in early 2024 in New York City, this newly-expanded fellowship is a youth-led continuation of our Healing Ourselves workshop series. This unique fellowship trains and uplifts AAPI young people to facilitate discussions around identity, community, and healing with their peers. An in-person training for CACF’s four fellows took place the weekend of January 11 at the offices of Buffalo String Works. Over the course of five sessions, our Healing Ourselves Youth Fellows will lead their peers through the workshop series’ curriculum with support from staff at our partner organizations.

The continued expansion of CACF’s leadership programming to Western New York is a part of CACF’s  commitment to working with diverse Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities across the state.

“It has been incredibly exciting to deepen our connections with Buffalo’s AAPI communities through our work with Healing Ourselves, Healing Our Communities. Our partner organizations at Bridges from Borders and Buffalo String Works have been an integral part of this program’s expansion over the last year, so it has been especially fitting that they will be co-hosting our first-ever Buffalo-based Youth Fellowship,” said Anita Gundanna and Vanessa Leung, CACF’s Co-Executive Directors. “Here at CACF, we regularly hear from community-based organizations from across New York State about the need for more youth-focused programming that centers well-being, so we are eager to work with even more diverse groups outside of New York City to help make this happen.”

Each organization will host two Youth Fellows for the duration of the workshop series.

"BFB is so excited to have the chance to collaborate with CACF and other local organizations to bring healing-centered programming to Western New York,” said Samantha Dalka, Program Coordinator at Bridges from Borders. “This is an incredible opportunity for youth to connect with their peers in a safe space in order to promote racial healing and overall mental well-being, and share what they've learned with their friends, families, and communities."

"We are truly excited at BSW to engage in this next chapter of Healing Ourselves, Healing Our Communities with our young people,” said Julia Port, Student Leadership Manager at Buffalo String Works. “In the past this workshop series has positively impacted our youth and gotten them to think about the world they interact with everyday, how they can make a change for their own communities as well as showing allyship to others. Overall, we can't wait to see the growth that takes place for our youth, especially our Youth Fellows who will be facilitating these workshops!"

According to the Youth Fellows themselves, they were drawn to being part of Healing Ourselves, Healing Our Communities because they regularly see how their fellow young people want to engage with their communities in deeper ways.

“I want my workshop participants to really see that the world is a big place full of many different perspectives and that they matter too!” said Healing Ourselves Youth Fellow Htee Paw. “They should always be learning about others and themselves, so that we all can bridge connections and all have love, empathy. And understanding.” 

“The Healing Ourselves youth-led workshops that are part of this series show participants they’re both capable of making change and have the resources at hand to begin to do so,” said Healing Ourselves Youth Fellow Anmol Kaur. “Giving that chance to youth is important because it gives power to their voice and opinion and shows that what young people have to say is important and deserves to be heard.”

The 2022 pilot of Healing Ourselves, Healing Our Communities was supported by Governor Kathy Hochul and essential funding from the New York State Department of Health.

If you’d like to learn more about the Healing Ourselves, Healing Our Communities Youth Fellowship or be connected to one of our Buffalo Youth Fellows, please email Lakshmi Gandhi, CACF’s Senior Communications Coordinator, at lgandhi@cacf.org.

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