
The saying goes, âNo man is an island.â As communal beings, humans rely and thrive on the friendship, support, wisdom, and accountability of one another. We cannot go through life alone.
This statement is equally true in the bigger picture. No community is an islandâespecially here in the United States, which is full of different cultures, languages, and walks of life. We grow in strength, stability, and well-being when we work together and seek goodness for one another across divides.
2024 showed us how important and impactful these relationships are for our community members.
Letâs rewindâin 2021, ASIA first invited the Bhutanese-Nepali community leaders and faith leaders to a dinner and conversation to connect with them and hear their thoughts on how we could collaborate with and support their neighbors.

Bhutanese-Nepali leadership meeting in 2021
The biggest concerns of the community leaders that they shared were mental health, alcohol and substance abuse, and the wellness and success of their youth.
Since then, we have collaborated with partners across Summit County to establish educational courses, support groups, and community engagement with Bhutanese-Nepali neighbors. We also continue these conversations through community leader meetings. Projects highlights include:
- An alcohol use awareness course over the summer in partnership with Stow Municipal Court,
- Â A community advisory board consisting of community members to discuss the communityâs stress, weakness, pressing issues, and potential solutions,
- Mental Health First Aid trainings hosted by ASIA for bilingual community members, and
- Behavioral Health outreach activity Bingo game through ASIAâs HAPI Fresh Farmerâs Market over the course of 12 weeks in the summer with over 200 active participants
In the most recent Dec. 2024 community leader meetings, we were able to review what we have done in the past three years and how we would want to move forward. Twenty attendees joined us in person or virtually. For the first hour, we participated in a session of art therapy with creative arts facilitator Amber Keaton before discussing how we all can work together for the good of the community.
Looking ahead, the conclusion was to continue focusing on increasing community awareness and education on mental health, creating parenting support groups, and encourage community groups to build bridges across generations.
Community leaders feel more empowered and invigorated to address mental health challenges in their neighborhood. "Hemanta is already a community leader but she wanted to do more with mental health, so she approached me,â said Fei Li, Manager of Community Health and Social Work Training, Hemanta Tirwa of Greater Akron womenâs group and Americare HealthCare. âShe said, âI know everyone has depression, but now we have the solution, and I know what to do.â So now the community leadership are saying they want to do mental health related work. They now take on the leadership to address these issues.â
We are especially grateful for the partnership of the following entities: ADM Board of Summit County, Bhutanese Community Association of Akron, Himalayan Arts Language & Culture Academy, and Stow Municipal Court.