NAAPIMHA — Free AAPI Mental Health Peer Support
The National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association (NAAPIMHA) is a nonprofit committed to promoting the mental health and well-being of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. Founded in 2003, NAAPIMHA delivers training, technical assistance, advocacy, and direct community programs — including the Achieving Whole Health peer education and support program, Iwa Pacific Islander mental wellness initiatives, and national convenings that bring together AANHPI community health workers, advocates, providers, and community members.
What to Expect
NAAPIMHA’s Achieving Whole Health (AWH) program trains AANHPI community members as peer educators and group facilitators to lead small-group support sessions in their own communities — combining peer-led mental wellness conversation with practical tools for physical and mental health. The organization also runs technical assistance for AANHPI-serving providers, free webinars, an annual National Asian American Pacific Islander Behavioral Health Conference, and policy advocacy at the federal level. NAAPIMHA’s resources include in-language materials and culturally specific training designed for the broad diversity of AANHPI communities.
Who This Group Is For
NAAPIMHA serves AANHPI community members, providers, advocates, and organizations across the country. Members include people seeking culturally specific mental health resources, peer educators delivering AWH groups in their communities, clinicians and community health workers, students, and policy advocates. Programs explicitly include Pacific Islander, Native Hawaiian, and AANHPI subcommunities often underserved by broader Asian American services.
Why Peer Support Works
AANHPI is a sweeping umbrella that contains enormous linguistic, cultural, and historical diversity. NAAPIMHA’s network model honors that diversity — training local peer educators who deliver support in the specific cultural context of their community, while connecting them to a national network for technical support and shared resources. The AWH model in particular has built peer-led mental wellness groups in communities where formal mental health services have historically been scarce or unfamiliar.
How to Join
NAAPIMHA’s resources are free. Visit naapimha.org to learn about the Achieving Whole Health program, request peer educator training, browse free webinars and resources, register for the annual conference, or contact staff for technical assistance.