Mabuhay Health Center: Youth Programs

 The Mabuhay Health Center invites students, families, and SoMA community members to participate in an art showcase: Kulay ng Katatagan, or Color of Resilience. Art has consistently been a pivotal part of the way communities express themselves—spanning barriers of time, language, and culture. Oftentimes a photograph, a painting, or even poetry can speak volumes about your feelings when words fail. Here at the Mabuhay Health Center we recognize art’s capacity to not only elevate the voices of the community, but also heal those who create and observe it. In decades of community organizing, art has remained powerful because of its ability to both shape and be shaped by the social conditions that surround us.  

Last year, we hosted Kulay ng Pag-asa, or Color of Hope. We asked community members to rally together in the midst of both the COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement to support and protect each one of its members. In spite of the surrounding uncertainty and fear, we wanted to create a safe space for the youth, families, and our lolos and lolas to express their feelings and tell stories of their life or imagination. 

Today, we want to recognize the strength and resilience of our community. We have survived a catastrophic public health crisis, a period of intense political unrest, and racism directed towards AAPI and Black-identifying individuals. When faced with these challenges, we did not falter. When faced with injustice, we marched in protest. When faced with hatred, we responded with love. We came together as a community, gathering strength from our loved ones, and helping others whenever possible. In the past year, countless programs have been expanded, restructured, or even formed in response to this pandemic— a true testament to the ingenuity and resilience of our community. Now, as vaccines are being distributed throughout the general public, we want to celebrate everything we have accomplished together over the past year and renew our collective commitment to advocacy and change.

To do so, Mabuhay Health Center is excited to announce a series of art workshops featuring talented Filipino artists, each specializing in a different artistic medium. We hope that these workshops will introduce our community to new art styles that will allow us to express our emotions through new forms. We hope that these spaces will provide a space for self-reflection and imaginative healing for all.