Our 2024 Impact Report is now available, showcasing the hard work that our staff, volunteers, clients, and partners have dedicated themselves to this past year. As we celebrate these stories of transformation and resilience, we invite you to review our impact and consider making a year-end gift to support our continued work in refugee services, human trafficking support, youth programming, and community empowerment.
AAU's work with refugees, refugee youth, and human trafficking victims is trauma-informed and culturally sensitive. To remain effective we continually evaluate our training, processes, and systems to ensure we are having the greatest impact with our trauma affected clients.
The Asian Association of Utah (AAU), a 47-year-old pillar of Utah's community service organizations and home to the Utah Asian Festival—the longest-running festival of its kind west of the Mississippi—today announced the launch of its "Build Today. Thrive Tomorrow." end-of-year giving campaign. The initiative aims to furnish the recently renovated Major Street office in the Ballpark neighborhood, enabling the expansion of critical services for human trafficking survivors and refugee communities.
In a significant step toward expanding our services, AAU has been breathing new life into our Major Street office in the Ballpark neighborhood since July. This building, which served as our main office until we relocated 14 years ago, is now being transformed from a dormant storage space into a vibrant center for community support.
Survivors of human trafficking face many barriers on their road to safety and self-sufficiency. Good employment is one of those barriers often due to events that happened during victimization. Employers who are open to work with AAU and our survivors currently receiving care from our case managers, can find excellent employees and have a huge impact.
AAU's Employer Partnership Program can help!
AAU is hosting six-week series focuses on mental health while building stronger community connections among both male and female Afghan groups.
In a momentous celebration of Salt Lake City's achievement as a 3-star Certified Welcoming city by Welcoming America, AAU received recognization in a special ceremony alongside other community partners. Our organization was honored for its continued commitment to making Salt Lake City a more welcoming and inclusive community for all residents.
In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Asian Association of Utah's Human Trafficking Support team invites you to an essential online community training being held on October 17th from 6:00 to 7:30PM (MST). This session will explore the critical intersection between domestic violence and sex trafficking, offering a comprehensive overview of how these issues are interconnected. We will discuss the dynamics of power and control, identify key warning signs of domestic violence and human trafficking recruitment tactics, and share strategies for effectively supporting your community. Join us to deepen your understanding and enhance your ability to make a difference. Register now to be part of this impactful training.
We are pleased to announce that AAU has added three outstanding members of our community to our Board of Directors—Chris Chong, James Sroykum, and Arlene Dzurnak.
AAU has been using the first floor of our old office building on South Major Street (just 1.5 miles south of downtown Salt Lake City) as a drop-in center for current victims of human trafficking for over 9 years. Unfortunately, the numbers and needs of this population has increased substantially. Fortunately, we have just received word from Lowe’s Hometowns that we will receive funding to restore and activate the second floor to add classrooms, meeting rooms, mental health therapy rooms, and repair building infrastructure this summer.
It is out of compassion and gratitude that the local Asian community in Salt Lake City has been helping refugees, refugee youth, and human trafficking victims through the extensive social service arm of the Asian Association of Utah. In addition, we host an annual Utah Asian Festival each year to celebrate the diverse Asian cultures in Utah. The 47th Utah Asian Festival is Saturday, June 8th. This video was created to share more about it as we launch a Virtual Fundraising Campaign for AAU.
One of the largest barriers for refugees when then arrive to the United States is language. Without good English language skills, it is hard to acclimate and find jobs that can lead to self-sufficiency and thriving. AAU’s English Language classes are designed to help refugees like Eidullah, a recent refugee from Afghanistan. Read more about his story below.
PBS Utah's Contact host, Liz Adeola, sits with guests Emilio Manuel Camu and Deepika Shah KC from the Utah Asian Festival to talk about the diverse ethnic communities. The Asian Festival connects new Americans, immigrants, and refugees to other ethnic groups in Utah.
The Harriet Tubman Fellowship supports survivor-leaders like Anthony who are dedicated to combating human trafficking and empowering survivors.
We are looking for volunteers to help setup and work during this year's Utah Asian Festival at the Utah State Fairpark on June 8th, 2024.
We are excited to announce that Kamala Ganesh, LCSW, has joined AAU’s Behavioral Health team as a therapist. Kamala graduated from West High School in Salt Lake City, attended the University of Virginia for undergrad before returning to Utah completing her Master’s Degree from the University of Utah in 2020.
Thank you for all the volunteers who came out on Saturday, February 17th to help us clean, organize, and prepare our Major Street building to receive in-kind donations for refugees, immigrants, and our human trafficking victims.
Asian Association of Utah’s Systematic Training for Effective Parenting (S.T.E.P.) class teaches modern child-rearing techniques to Utah’s refugee communities in an individually tailored, culturally-sensitive and success oriented setting. Parents will learn how to foster a better relationship with their children through effective communication despite generational and language barriers.
What happens to the human trafficking victims after an arrest of the traffickers? It seems like we see a story in the news about a labor trafficking or sex trafficking arrest in our local community each month. What doesn't usually make the news, is that the Asian Association of Utah is the primary organization that assists the human trafficking victims in Utah.
Much of the work we do at the Asian Association of Utah is behind the scenes with new refugees (secondary resettlement) from Afghanistan. We know it is not about us and we do not seek headlines in the newspapers. The heroes of the stories are the new Americans and their drive to find a new home and thrive. Recently, KSL here in Salt Lake City featured a few of our clients and how they are beginning to make an impact here.
“I am not here to command anyone on how to raise their kids…the keyword is collaboration. Many of my students hold strong opinions about sensitive topics such as corporal punishment, that may be in contrast to the Western cultural milieu. But by giving these parents and guardians new tools and perspectives on how to communicate with their children despite generational and language barriers, they can come to their own evidence-based conclusions about what works and what doesn’t.”
Human Trafficking is surprising more rampant in Utah than most people know. Watch our Director of Human Trafficking Support, Andrea Sherman, on ABC4 share more. The interview is from 10/31/2023.
We are grateful for the many volunteers who came out to pickup trash, pull weeds, and clean up graffiti at our Human Trafficking Support drop-in center on Saturday, October 21, 2023. Such an improvement! Thank you!
The Human Trafficking Support team of the Asian Association of Utah was featured on ABC4's Good Things Utah recently. Learn more about how we help trafficking survivors from their interview here.
AAU has been a leader in human trafficking support services since 2010. Our Human Trafficking Support (HTS) is Utah’s largest, most comprehensive, and only federally funded human trafficking victim service provider.
Asian Association of Utah Names New Clinic Director
As the need for trauma-informed behavioral health services increases, AAU promotes veteran therapist as next Clinic Director to replace outgoing Andy Tran.
In addition to the amazing wrap around social services the Asian Association of Utah provides to refugees and human trafficking survivors in Utah, we also host an annual Asian Festival which attracts tens of thousands of people.
