MHP Statement: Reflecting on One-Year of the Pandemic, Increased Anti-Asian Violence

In March, the world took a moment to reflect on the one-year mark of the COVID-19 pandemic, honoring the collective grief over losses and changes from the past year and recognizing the resilience we have gained as an organization and individuals. Together, Mental Health Partner’s (MHP) staff, clients, and community have faced every challenge presented by the pandemic with fortitude and perseverance.  Because of these qualities, continuity of care was sustained for our clients, we provided necessary resources and support to an anxious community, and we continued to reach many of our operational and strategic goals. MHP is situated to move towards our “new” reality – however that looks in the post-vaccine world – with lesson learned, strength gained, and hope.

Though we embrace this hope, we are also aware that our nation and communities faced more challenges than just the pandemic in 2020. When stress is applied to a system, issues and cracks can become more apparent. We saw this exemplified last year in police violence, racial injustice events, and a growing division politically and across communities. As a safety-net organization that is committed to fostering positive mental wellbeing and providing addiction recovery care to communities, we expressed our grief and outrage over these incidents and issues and added our voice to the collective as a sign of strength, unity, compassion, and empathy.

We are saddened that, once again, hate and racial injustice has affected another community that is disproportionately affected by violence. MHP joins others in condemning the attack of Asian businesses, and killing of six Asian women, in Georgia earlier in March. While this attack was perpetuated by a single individual, it is an example of the ongoing gender-based and anti-Asian violence that has long plagued our nation. MHP stands with our Asian American communities against anti-Asian xenophobia and hate.

The one-year mark of the pandemic, and the recent attacks in Georgia, can create an emotional response. As always, we encourage the community to be proactive about their mental wellbeing. For immediate crisis support, please call 1 (844) 493-TALK (8255), text TALK to 38255 or go directly to our 24/7 Walk-In Center at 3180 Airport Rd., Boulder, CO. To access other MHP clinical and supportive services, call (303) 443-8500.

Updates on these important topics will be posted on MHP’s website (www.mhpcolorado.org) and social media channels (Facebook @MentalHealthPartnersCO, Twitter: @MentalHealthCO; and Instagram @mentalhealthpartnersco). Community members are also encouraged to check out MHP’s BIPOC Mental Health Toolkit at www.mhpcolorado.org/bipoc-stress-and-trauma-toolkit.