Shirley Fan
Shirley Fan is the Executive Director of the Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence. This is her 6th year at the organization though she has been working with domestic violence victims for over 13 years.
A La Salle graduate, Fan started her career working as an advocate in the District Attorney’s office. “I noticed that there weren’t many Asian advocates, I was pretty much the only one,” she said. “I wanted to connect to the Asian community.”
The Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence has two major components, outreach and education, and has several projects in place to help the community.
One project is the Asian Shelter and Advocacy Project (ASAP), the first program of its kind in the state. This program offers a 24-hour hotline available in several different languages. It offers a 90 day shelter that can house up to 16 women at a time and a 14 day safe home that can house up to three families.
Other programs that the organization runs are Project Safe, a project whose goal is to is to bring family violence to the attention of the community and engage community participation in preventing further abuse. Also managed by the Task Force, is the Lowell Asian Project Against Domestic Violence. According to the organization’s website, the project is designed to serve and educate the Lowell Cambodian community around the issue of domestic violence.
“Domestic violence is a family matter,” said Fan. “A healthy family has to be responsible and respectful. We try to help families lead a stronger happier life.”
Program staff can speak several Asian languages and dialects: Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin and Toisanese), Hindi, Japanese, Khmer (Cambodian), Korean, Nepali, Urdu, and Vietnamese.
The Task Force uses a collection of volunteer translators that increases their ability to communicate to a wide array of clients. Since its inception, the Task Force has provided services, advocacy, and outreach to women from 15 different ethnic groups in 12 Asian languages
Out reach is very important according to Fan. “Advocacy has many facets. The majority of our clients are immigrants. We are their navigator and communicator and we bridge our clients to the social systems that they need.”
If you, or someone you know has questions or is in trouble, please call the organization’s confidential, 24 hour hotline, available in multiple languages (617) 338-2355.
Posted by Susan Fitton
December 20, 2005 01:42 AM | Permalink
