| Asian Shelter & Advocacy Project (ASAP)
The Asian Shelter and Advocacy Project (ASAP) is the first program of its kind in Massachusetts and only one of a few across the United States. ASAP provides safety and advocacy and an environment where Asian women and men and their children feel understood and supported as they begin the healing process.
The uniqueness of our services comes from our ability to provide culturally and linguistically competent services to Asian women of diverse Asian cultures, recognizing specific values and beliefs shared across the diverse cultures. All direct services staff are bilingual immigrant women who help clients bridge language and cultural gaps in seeking safety and rebuilding their lives. Program staff speak several Asian languages and dialects: Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin and Toisanese), Hindi, Japanese, Khmer (Cambodian), Korean, Nepali, Urdu, and Vietnamese. A pool of volunteer translators increases our language capacity. Since its inception, ATASK provided services, advocacy, and outreach to women from 15 different ethnic groups in 12 Asian languages.
Another feature of our model is that we offer comprehensive services to all clients. Our stabilization services provide long-term support to help women heal from the trauma of abuse and make the transition from crisis situations to safe, independent, violence-free lives. These services are based on a holistic approach, tackling many issues our survivors of abuse must deal with every day.
These services are free of charge and confidential. For help, call our 24-hour hotline at 617.338.2355.
ASAP provides direct services to our clients. It includes the following five programs:
- Community Based Services (CBS)
- Shelter and Shelter Annex
- Children’s Program
- Lowell Asian Project Against Domestic Violence
- Education and Outreach
All programs and services work closely together to provide coordinated care and delivery of services. Additional services include advocacy for legal issues, housing, medical services and public benefits, information and referral, English for Speakers of Other Languages, life skills curriculum and job referral.
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"A woman needs to be independent. She needs to try to move ahead with her life, take initiative, and not get slack in the moment."
- former shelter resident |
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Community Based Services (CBS)
- Crisis intervention
- Safety planning
Shelter and Shelter Annex
- Multilingual 24/7 hotline
- Long- and short-term emergency shelter
- Assistance with food, clothing and transportation
- Support Group
- Health care
Children’s Program
- Children’s advocacy
- Parenting group
- Play group
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