Maru mobilizes immigrants and refugees to transform their lived experience into systems change, restoring purpose through community healing.

Jikimee Senior Leadership Program

Jikimee means 'Community Protector' in Korean.

The Jikimee Senior Leadership Program meets weekly and cultivates community leaders amongst monolingual Korean seniors residing in the Bay Area. The seniors undergo an extensive training process in a culturally and linguistically responsive environment to explore issues pertinent to the Korean immigrant community and how they can actively participate in finding solutions. 

Our Jikimee Leaders exercise their leadership skills in a variety of ways. Whether it be speaking at public meetings, advocating for vital services at legislative events, or volunteering at cultural events, their support is at the heart of MARU's commitment to community wellness initiatives.

To learn more about the Jikimee Program, call +1 (844) 828-2254

New cohort selection will open up in 2026 on a rolling basis. 

Recognized by Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Services as a community-defined evidence (CDE) model, Jikimee Senior Program’s “Korean K-Stories” component is offered by the county as an online Community-Based Learning Training for mental health professionals working with Korean older adults in Alameda County (ACMHSA Community-Based Learning Trainings Website)​

See our leaders in action!

"I was always taught not to do a lot of things because I am a woman. Learning about mental health and self-care was helpful to me. Now I encourage and compliment myself." - Jikimee Senior Leader

Community Education Workshops

MARU offers community workshops to empower community members with knowledge and resources to improve well-being. Topics focus on challenges faced by immigrants and refugees, promoting self-sufficiency and access to resources.

Navigating Benefits:

  • Public benefits and assistance programs
  • Social Security basics
  • Medi-Cal updates for 2024
  • Medicare enrollment and changes for 2025
  • Medicare free preventative services

Public Safety & Rights:

  • Reimagining public safety in AAPI communities
  • Rights & immigration
  • Protecting seniors from scams
  • Crime and restorative justice
  • Senior safety and community security
  • Housing rights
  • Domestic violence education
  • Disaster preparedness

Wellness:

  • Advanced Care Directive workshop
  • Self-care and wellness
  • Qigong for vitality
  • Hiring caregivers
  • Stress, anxiety, and depression management
  • Trauma-informed care
  • Communication skills
  • Healthy eating and active aging

Digital Literacy:

  • Smartphone skills for limited English speakers, including messaging, translation, photos, and videos.

"My experience at KCCEB as an MSW intern was amazing and unforgettable! I would highly recommend this experience to any MSW student that yearns for a wholesome experience.”

Asian Mental Health Professional Pipeline Program

Around 11 million Californians (1 in 4) live in areas indicated to have an inadequate number of mental health professionals to serve its population. Only 8.4% of behavioral health providers are Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) while 16% of Californians are AANHPI. 67% of the behavioral health workforce in CA speak English only and only 3.6% speak an Asian language. To address the mental health provider gap of bilingual/bicultural therapists in the field, MARU launched the MHAP (Mental Health Asian Pipeline) in 2020 to train MSW/MFT interns in providing community mental health support for underserved seniors, families & youth with a focus on Asian communities.  

This program: 

  • Trained over 30 interns speaking 8 non-English languages (Cantonese, Khmer, Korean, Japanese, Mandarin, Mongolian, Tagalog, and Vietnamese), over one-third who are first-generation college students and over two-thirds who are returning adult students. 
  • Partners with 6 graduate schools throughout California and the East Coast. 
  • Trainings include: In-depth 6-weeks onboarding in counseling and case management, trainings and exposure to different healing modalities (e.g. motivational interviewing, art-based, EMDR, movement), discussions about culturally-relevant topics (e.g., religion and faith, gender and sexuality, migration experience, interpretation challenges).
  • Offer opportunities to experience micro, mezzo, and macro approaches in social work and community mental health, including public speaking opportunities and behavioral health advocacy.
  • Provide weekly in-depth individual and group supervision.
  • Uniquely provides exposure to holistic healing and arts-based curriculum from an Asian cultural lens.  

Places mental health interns at 14 schools across 5 school districts ranging from K-12 and community colleges, annually serving 80 clients in counseling and 3,500 community members in outreach and wellness activities

Young Asian American Storytellers!

In 2019-2020, Maru and two other Oakland Asian immigrant/refugee orgs (CERI and ARU) formed Young Asian American Storytellers (YAAS) to offer youth-focused afterschool mental health workshops funded by the City of Oakland.

The YAAS project was interrupted due to the pandemic and funding constraints.

Maru’s YAAS project provided a digital media internship for 8 youth. Youth-developed two videos, one to promote the Census and another on mental health challenges. 

See our youth’s video.

"My supervisor genuinely cares for the interns and does her best to make sure that we all end our internship with ample experience and tremendous growth. I could not have asked for a better supervisor.“

These programs are funded by Mental Health Services Act, Area Agency on Aging, and Korean American Community Foundation of SF.

"I am first-generation living in the U.S." -11 interns (11/16, 69%)