One of Shetu’s core focuses is on building strong and healthy communities, where community members can strive to live healthy, stress-free lives. A large percentage of members of immigrant diasporas in the US suffer from one or several forms of mental illnesses, rooted in their dependence on their families for housing, financial assistance, advocacy, and support. Factors such as culture shock, cross-generational gap, and identity crisis, aggravate the mental and psychological conditions of many immigrant families, giving rise to increased incidences of depression, emotional and/or behavioral disturbance. Unfortunately, mental illness is a social stigma in many South-Asian societies, and there is a strong resistance from within these communities to accept this and seek help to overcome them. Shetu intends to help our communities by addressing this taboo subject and providing information, training, and education to overcome these struggles.
