Hmong community members hoping to raise $150,000 to keep Kajsiab House open

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Leaders in Madison’s Hmong community announced efforts Tuesday to help raise money for a therapy program that was planned to close at the end of the year.

The Kajsiab House, founded in 2000 as part of the Journey Mental Health Center, provides mental health services to many elders in the Hmong community of Dane County. About 5,000 Hmong Americans live in Dane County, and more than 300 are war veterans or widows of veterans.

The lobby of the City County Building is packed. Members of the Hmong and Cambodia community are holding a news conference to respond to @journeymhc‘s decision to close both Kajsiab House and the Cambodian program later this month. #news3 pic.twitter.com/frilYxoylv

— Rose Schmidt (@RoseSchmidtTV) September 4, 2018

The Hmong Institute said at a packed news conference that Journey notified Kajsiab House staff on Aug. 7 that the service would be closed down on Sept. 28. The Cambodian program, which started in 1990 and provides similar services, would also close at the end of September. More than 400 residents would be affected by the closures.

“This is a devastating event for Journey and the Dane County community,” said Journey President and CEO Lynn Brady at the time of the announcement. “It will lead to the loss of jobs, as well as badly needed services for a very vulnerable population of people that supported our country during the war.”

Critics of the plan have noted that the closure is abrupt and leaves many of the patients served without any mental health services.

“Mental health care is a basic human right. Shame on Journey for choosing profit over people, for ending culturally specific programs for Cambodian and Hmong people,” Kabzuag Vaj, Freedom Inc.’s executive director, said in a statement.

A GoFundMe campaign has been established to raise the $150,000 necessary to keep the program alive until the end of the year. Organizers said the money would help maintain culturally competent services for this vulnerable population and help cover basic expenses such as rent, minimal staff, transportation, medication prescription, psychological counseling and PTSD therapy.

“They are veterans, widows of veterans, elders and genocide survivors,” Peng Her, CEO of the Hmong Institute, said, noting that many patients have been depressed and talked about suicide since the August announcement. “For many, this is a place of community and safety. We cannot just turn our backs on them.”

“Why is Journey closing down a successful program?” asks a member of @AboutFreedomInc. “What we want is for Journey to keep the doors open at least until the end of this year.” #news3 pic.twitter.com/B9WcVaKGOP

— Rose Schmidt (@RoseSchmidtTV) September 4, 2018

Organizers hope to establish a contract for services with Dane County to maintain services in 2019.

Ultimately, organizers said keeping the programs alive through the end of the year is critical to keeping the elders who depend on these services alive.

Kajsiab (pronounced ka-sheea) means the relief of stress and tension and the freedom from worrying about loved ones, according to the Kajsiab House’s website.

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