The Life and Cope program is the first initiative in our community to work on self-growth, self-esteem, mental and emotional wellbeing, and learning professional techniques to deal with life’s challenges. Our team believes that bringing awareness to our community regarding critical challenges and relevant issues can breed resolution and unity. This is sowing the seeds for a stronger and healthier community in future.

Some of the important work we’ve focused on includes facilitating digitally streamed and in person events supporting mental health and Afghan refugees’ successful adaptation to resettlement and the new environment. Life and Cope started as a quarterly face to face series, then transitioned to virtual Zoom events during the pandemic, and recently transitioned to monthly in-person gatherings.

The first talk of the Life and Cope series took place in October 2015, on the topic of “migration” and its impact on immigrant families. Other presentations revolved around topics such as war trauma, stress management, and the common stigma around mental health. Most recently, our January 2023 Life and Cope session on “Parenting in America” was held successfully with the Afghan community – including newly arrived Afghan families. A-AWA offers services in several formats including In-Person, Virtual, and recorded sessions on Youtube. This has enabled Afghans to benefit from the program regardless of their location. With continued funding, the Life and Cope program will continue to offer professional sessions free of cost. These sessions help the Afghan-American community reach their full potential in becoming productive individuals within our culture and society.

The Life and Cope Program has naturally grown because of the recent influx of Afghan refugees, and therefore expansion of A-AWA’s resettlement services. The role of volunteers is enormous in this program from the professional team of psychologists, life coaches, to the team outreaching, transporting, and running the events. The Life & Cope Program provides the platform to continue the lifelong relationship of care that our several teams of volunteers have developed with the community. Life and Cope was the first initiative in our community to work on our self-growth, self-esteem, mental, emotional well-being and learning about professional techniques to deal with our life challenges. Through continued programming we will strive to offer emotional support and educate the community through love and care!