1. July 15, 2016
Recommendation Letter for AACI IBH
I have been work for NAMI many years and be a director at NAMI ACS (Alameda
County South)since 2014. I often refer NAMI community members and family to AACI’s
Integrated Behavioral Health Program (IBH). The IBH program’s Peer Partner (Sophia
Cheng) at AACI re-established and created an AA group for Mandarin speakers in the Bay
Area, with the help of other supportive figures in the community. It is the only Mandarin AA
group in the Bay Area to our knowledge and consists of male and female members. The
members usually demonstrate support towards each other. I specifically noticed that the
female members in the group bonded and spent time with one another. In general, this was
a powerful and memorable moment for me in this group.
We live in a society with broken families consisting of wealthy and lower-income
individuals. Everyone comes from various ethnic backgrounds and cultures. There are
several families and members of the community who suffer. It is the counselor’s
responsibility to educate and update themselves on available programs to all potential
clients. AACI’s IBH program not only offers psychotherapy for individuals with mental
illnesses, but also they offer wellness workshops in the areas of chronic disease self-
management, diabetic self- management program and weight management. They
outreached to several people and communities, including our NAMI ACS. As a whole,
AACI’s IBH is an extraordinary and wonderful program. I look forward to working with the
IBH staff.
Thanks and Respectfully,
Elaine Peng 彭一玲
Director, Asian Community Programs
National Alliance on Mental Illness Alameda County South (NAMI ACS)
Email: chinese@namiacs.org
Phone: 510-259-9580 Ext 109
www.namichinese.org
Events Location: 39500 Fremont Blvd, Suite 300,Fremont, CA 94538
To whom it may concern