Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (AAPI) honors and commemorates the Asian American communities that contribute to the diverse culture and history of our Nation. This AAPI Heritage Month, The Women’s Foundation is honored to highlight Asian/ Pacific Islander Domestic Violence Resource Project (DVRP).
It is imperative for AAPI survivors to have support from bilingual case managers providing culturally-specific services. DVRP is the only Pan-Asian Pacific Islander organization meeting the needs of survivors of gender-based violence, power-based violence, and responding to systemic violence in DC. DVRP provides free services in over 20 Asian languages through mental health professionals, financial support, and transportation support. Survivors can receive support regardless of income level, immigration status, or English proficiency.
Not only does DVRP play a unique and crucial role as the only pan-A/PI anti-violence organization in the DMV, but their arts-based practice, analysis of broader systems of violence, and survivor/ community-centered approach distinguishes their work from non-culturally specific organizations.
Through funding from The Women’s Foundation, DVRP has provided honorariums to 30 community members impacted by COVID, economic justice, and transportation needs. DVRP hosts listening sessions to understand the needs of the AAPI community. From the listening sessions, DVRP is able to understand the value of transportation for survivors who do not have access to public transportation.
As DVRP implements an arts-based practice, they’ve created a graphic novel, Recipes for Healing, to address causes of inequity and dismantle systemic forms of oppression. Recipes for Healing identifies gender-based violence surrounding transphobia and sexual violence. The novel is written in Vietnamese, Simplified Chinese, Urdu, and Japanese to reach non-English speaking communities and is available on their website at www.dvrp.org/recipesforhealing.
Sharing the same values as The Women’s Foundation, DVRP is dedicated to advancing equity and justice for women of color in our community.
Today and every day, we are proud to stand behind DVRP as they work to serve the AAPI community and help us achieve our goal.
To learn more about DVRP, visit https://www.dvrp.org.
