Consider a Local Chai & Chat
Chai & Chat is part of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Sharing Hope Series, a cross-cultural initiative to destigmatize mental health in racially and ethnically diverse communities. Our local NAMI Central Middlesex MA affiliate is gathering representatives from the South Asian community in Massachusetts to consider the opportunity to learn about and launch a local Chai & Chat program.
What is Chai & Chat?
The NAMI Chai & Chat initiative centers on destigmatizing the conversation around mental health and wellness in South Asian communities. Lack of mental health information, and the prevalence of cultural or language barriers, can prevent people in South Asian communities from accessing much needed support. Chai & Chat aims to bring communities together to collectively support each other while leaning on cultural wisdom and understanding education, awareness and care navigation.
Developed specifically for individuals of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives ancestry, Chai & Chat’s three-part community conversation series is designed to empower communities to share openly about the stresses of acculturation/integration, family and community pressures, generational trauma, racism and inequalities in accessing care. It is an opportunity to hold listening circles for, by and about South Asians and provide the opportunity to validate and explore participants’ mental wellness journeys and discover avenues of support.
Join the Conversation
Gather via Zoom webinar on April 17, 2025, 7:00-7:45 pm, for an information session with Charu Aggarwal, NAMI National’s Lead Consultant for Chai & Chat. Attendees are invited to learn about the structure and approach of the program, consider if it would be helpful to their community, and to think about options for supporting upcoming programs. There will be volunteer opportunities, but financial investment is not necessary.
The Invitees
All Massachusetts residents who identify as South Asian are welcome including those interested in mental health awareness and connections to behavioral health services in their local community, individuals affected by a mental health condition, people who love someone who lives with a mental health condition, young adults concerned about mental health, and behavioral health care professionals.
Let’s work together to ensure our South Asian communities feel welcome, respected, and heard.
Register and spread the news about the information session.
Find us on Facebook @NAMICentralMiddlesexMA and Instagram @namimass_cmsx.
In recognition of safe spaces, this program will not be recorded.
Attending a future Chai & Chat program
It will be a few months before we offer a Chai & Chat program. If you are unable to attend this information/planning session but would like NAMI Central Middlesex to contact you about the opportunity to attend a future program, please click on the button below and fill out the Waitlist form. The program will be offered free of charge. Thank you.