Asian Family Services has received funding from the Ministry of Health, to boost existing mental health support for Asians living in New Zealand experiencing distress due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kelly Feng, National Director Asian Family Services, says COVID-19 is having a significant impact on people’s lives and causing many Asians living in New Zealand to feel anxious, distressed, and confused.

“The Ministry of Health has recognised this need and is funding our service to provide additional support including extending our Asian Helpline hours along with our online and face-to-face counselling support in different languages,” she says.

Kelly Feng says the most important message they want Asian people to understand is that they are not alone and support is available free of charge and is completely confidential.

“We encourage people to reach out to services for support and not to isolate themselves if they experience any mental health and addiction issues,” she says.

“We have professionally trained and experienced counsellors who speak several languages and will provide emotional support to anyone who needs it during this difficult and unsettling time.”

Asian Family Services is developing a suite of resources to support wellbeing and help people who are currently struggling with their mental health, by providing simple, tangible actions anyone can do.

Asian Family Services is a nationwide mental health and addiction service that provides free and confidential support including the Asian Helpline in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, Thai and Hindi.

Ph 0800 862 342 from 9am to 8pm, Monday to Friday. For further information visit www.asianfamilyservices.nz, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, WeChat, where resources are shared daily in different languages.

Ends