A recent USC Annenburg Media story by Jackson Stephens, highlights the community approach of ACPHC and the impact it’s making in the lives of African and Caribbean communities around Los Angeles.

“There [were] a lot of suicides back in 2008 to 2009,” Executive Director of the African Communities Public Health Coalition Senait Admassu said.

Admassu said the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health attempted to help the community and prevent these suicides but didn’t know how to reach Caribbean and African communities due to cultural communication barriers.

“We are trying to be complementary to the western system of treatment along with holistic culturally sensitive healing,” Admassu said. “This is community-driven from the bottom up, a more holistic than only one method under state and county structure.”