(Akron, OH) Asian Services in Action (ASIA) is grateful to announce an award of $45,000 in grant funding from Akron Community Foundation to support their after-school programs in addition to their substance addiction prevention programs for fiscal year 2026.
ASIA’s Children, Youth, and Family Services (CYF) department received $20,000 to fund the enrichment program’s after-school academic support, prevention program, and skill building to underserved youth in Akron and Cuyahoga Falls through the International Community Empowerment Project. An additional $25,000 was awarded to ASIA’s Behavioral Health team’s work to improve community resource accessibility with opioid-specific prevention outreach, education, and research to learn more about opioid use within Summit County's immigrant/refugee communities.
“We are very grateful for this generous funding from the Akron Community Foundation,” said Jeff Panik, manager of CYF. “The support has helped us grow and strengthen our after school and summer program offerings, providing much needed academic and social support to our youth participants in Akron and Cuyahoga Falls.”
Immigrant and refugee students face additional struggles to schooling due to language barriers, economic challenges, and added responsibilities for the family’s survival, like assisting with bills and being the family’s translator. These accumulated stressors can result in lower academic results, social isolation, truancy, and higher risk for addictive behaviors. In addition, immigrant/refugee communities experience significant mental health challenges related to the traumas associated with being forcedly displaced from their country, the resettlement process, and acculturation. These factors lead to the prevalence of mental illness among these communities facing higher risks of alcohol and substance abuse, especially among Bhutanese-Nepali and Afghan refugees.
ASIA provides wrap-around services to these communities, including their after-school programs and behavioral health resources to help improve opioid and substance addiction prevention among refugee and immigrant populations in an effort to promote the community’s health and success.
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ASIA is a social, health, and legal services agency that focuses on providing comprehensive and multilingual services to Northeast Ohioans so that they prosper and flourish.
MEDIA CONTACT: Anna Chen
EMAIL: achen@asiaohio.org
PHONE: (330) 459-1173