Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Associations Coalition | New Routes | Using local media made by immigrants to improve the health of immigrants

Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Associations Coalition

Since 1984, the Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Associations Coalition, Inc. (SEAMAAC) has provided services and advocacy for refugees and immigrants in Philadelphia. Its mission is to support immigrants, refugees, and their families as they seek access to opportunities that would advance the condition of their lives in the United States. SEAMAAC maintains programs in translation, ESL, job training, youth programs, elderly programs, truancy prevention and health. Eighty-five percent of SEAMAAC's staff are bilingual.

SEAMAAC acknowledges the challenges immigrants and refugees have faced in order to seek social and economic resources as well as freedom from war, tyranny, and oppression. Our work and mission seek to recapture the resilient spirit of immigrants and refugees to adapt, survive, and flourish in the United States. Despite their determination to succeed, immigrants and refugees face overwhelming disparities. Therefore, it is SEAMAAC's goal to advocate for as well as to provide services that will help immigrants and refugees in pursuit of obtaining a better quality of life.

Members of the SEAMAAC Elders Council

Proud members of the SEAMAAC Elders Council

Under the direction of Thoai Nguyen (no familial relation to Dr. Giang Nguyen of Penn), SEAMAAC will perform outreach to the communities it serves in order to assess community priorities and to engage community members in the process of creating health-related media. SEAMAAC staff will serve as multilingual cultural guides for WHYY staff during video production. They will co-lead community workshops with members of the Elders Council using the new media as a catalyst for discussions about health. The new workshops will be incorporated into ongoing outreach programs in which SEAMAAC staff regularly go to community centers to discuss issues of importance to immigrants.

New Routes Project: Our Stories, Our Health

Other Project Partners: Temple University Center for Intergenerational Learning
Thomas Jefferson University, Department of Health Policy
University of Pennsylvania Department of Family Medicine & Community Health
WHYY