Hmong Womens Heritage Association

Sacramento-CA.

Hmong Women Heritage Association is a non-profit organization, bringing services to Hmong families in the Sacramento County, and committed to helping the community evolve and change prosperously. The organization helps Hmong women and their families to lead healthier lives and become more active participating members in society. Originally established in November of 1993, as only a support group for Hmong women, their main concern was with the growing problem of depression and the deterioration of the family dynamics, which also effected community life. They now have expanded to provide a variety of different services to the community, including but not limited to the following three programs: The Hmong Family Resource Center, Kashia Health, and The Youth Development Program.

The Hmong Family Resource Center, funded by the Sacramento Employment and Training Agency (SETA), and the California Wellness Foundation, provides services for family support, outreach in education, citizenship, case-management for crisis intervention, para-professional counseling, mental/health access and advocacy.

Kashia Health program promotes cancer awareness, screening and prevention tools, and providing health/mental resources through networking with the American Cancer Society; California Department of Health Services, and Asian American Network for Cancer Awareness Research and Training (AANCART).

Partnering with the Sacramento City Unified School District, Hmong Women Heritage Association provides The Youth Development Program, which is a weekly after school program dedicated to meeting the needs of Hmong, Mien, and Lao youths. The goal of the program is to encourage high self-esteem, and to help students excel academically.

The Hmong Women Heritage Association has been helping the community for over 15 years, and it would not have been possible without their sponsors and the amazing efforts and dedication of their staff members. New Executive Director, Koua Jacklyn Franz also agrees that without the "dedicated and hard working staff members", the Hmong Women Heritage Association would not be possible. Mrs. Franz began her journey with HWHA on September 16, 2008, and has been actively assisting Hmong families affected in the casino bus crash, by working alongside Assemblymember Dave Jones, petitioning and achieving their goal for stricter regulations on casino charter buses.

For future actitives for the Hmong Community, Mrs. Franz hope to gather enough support from the community to hold an annual Hmong culture summer camp. This would "be a great way to help participants stay occupied during the summer and to learn Hmong culture and heritage while having fun at the same time".

The Hmong Women Heritage Association is not strictly just for women, so if anyone should find themselves in need of their services, please contact them at (916) 394-1405 or visit their office on 2245 Florin Road, Sacramento CA. You may also contact them via email with any questions at: info@hmongwomenheritage.org or go to their website at: http://www.hmongwomenheritage.org/