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NOV 15, 2022
No matter how hard 42-year old Deepinder Kaur (name changed) tried to erase the memory of that vicious look in her husband’s eyes, it would float before her mind’s eye, causing her to recoil in fear, convulse in agony.
Deepinder was brought by the police to the hospital after her husband savagely beat her, knocking her unconscious. Her face bore multiple fractures and her tongue was split open. She had bruises on her lungs, and lacerations to her head. The pain that tore through her body was exacerbated by the knowledge that she had nowhere to go in the United States, and she wasn’t fluent in the English language. It didn’t help that she was unemployed and still in the process of extending her US visa.
By the time she called Umeed – the UNITED SIKHS’ helpline number – she had been living in her car for a few days. When her story unraveled, the UNITED SIKHS volunteers found her a place to stay, helped her reschedule her visa appointment, and offered her free mental health support to help her overcome what she had been through.
It is not hard to spot women like Deepinder in North America’s South Asian community. You can tell when they are fighting back tears while picking up groceries at the supermarket. You notice their uncharacteristic reticence at social gatherings. And not just beleaguered women like Deepinder. The solitary, elderly gentleman with the vacant look in his eyes. The crestfallen teenager you can tell was bullied at school today. The disoriented scruffy-looking man on the bus. The girl with the alcoholic father in the neighborhood.
At times it is stigma that stops people from speaking out. At other times, it is a feeling of hopelessness arising out of not knowing whom to reach out to. This is exactly what inspired the creation of Umeed (meaning hope), the latest community-driven initiative from UNITED SIKHS.
Umeed is a 24/7 helpline in principle but could be a potential lifeline to those in real need. Launched to provide social support, prevention strategies, and coordinated services information, Umeed aims at helping the most vulnerable find the resources they need, at a time they need it the most with 100% confidentiality intact.
Anyone going through a personal crisis could dial the helpline number and get access to resources and professional help related to senior care service, mental health support, substance abuse counseling, domestic abuse counseling, post-disaster distress counseling, and social support service. This way, they'll know they aren't alone. And they definitely aren't uncared for.
For most South Asian communities, personal, familial, and marital traumas still make for unnerving conversations. It’s not going to be easy to popularize this unique family help center helpline because few will be willing to acknowledge they need this kind of help. And that’s why this nascent initiative of UNITED SIKHS needs a collective push from people like you.
We need legal professionals, marriage counselors, family lawyers, mental health experts, senior care providers, and medical professionals! We also need volunteers who are simply willing to go out there, to elicit a conversation, to talk and listen. Last but not least, we need generous donations from people like you to sustain hope; to keep Umeed up and running.
Umeed needs YOU today; your community members need YOU. Most of all, YOU need to be the person who won’t look away, thinking you don’t know how to help.
Make A Donation & Help Rekindle their Hope: Donate Now
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