Earlier this year, the boards of the Asian Pacific Development Center (APDC) and Aurora Mental Health & Recovery announced a merger of the two organizations. As such, all APDC staff joined forces with AMHR’s Refugee Clinic and Health Navigation Teams.
The primary driver for this decision was the fact that AMHR recently established a Center of Excellence for Refugees and Immigrants designed to focus and maximize the organization’s operations and resources in a manner that will enhance the care experience for people to achieve the most healthful outcomes.
Today, AMHR is proud to announce that the Cultural Development & Wellness Center is the new name for the combined division. The aspirations behind the Center of Excellence are bolstered by an exceptionally high concentration of expertise among our multilingual and multicultural staff centered on refugee and immigrant behavioral health. The Cultural Development & Wellness Center has combined key resources in providing critical services to the international community of Aurora, operating as one solid and sustainable organization.
Current clients will enjoy the same great staff with the same great services, and the addition of combined strengths. These strengths will serve the members of our immigrant community well. Together, we will provide culturally appropriate mental health services, language translation services, and citizenship classes to our immigrant community.
Operating as one organization, AMHR will continue to serve the growing immigrant and refugee population, providing services to Aurora, as well as the entire state. The goal is to improve access to services by continuing to enlarge our network of collaborative organizations that assist refugees and immigrants. AMHR will also continue to develop and implement “best practice” models of care for refugee and immigrant communities and individuals, as well as formalize and strengthen our role as a referral resource and training resource for other nonprofits state-wide.
In addition to the expansion of services that collaboration enables, we anticipate that this Center of Excellence will enable us to secure further resources in the form of grants and contracts that will enhance the care available for these members of our community. Together, the combined teams will continue to make Aurora a leader among the most diverse and culturally-enriched communities in America.