Courtesy of Clarence Mamaril
Members of the Filipino community, including American Canyon City Council Member David Oro (back, second from left), Luchi Marte Carey (far left), Dame Jose (center), Faith Ballesteros (second from right) and Clarence Mamaril (far right), gather before an anti-Asian hate rally in American Canyon in May 2021.
JESSICA ZIMMER
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apa’s Filipino community is coming together during the COVID-19 pandemic to encourage listening, sharing, and techniques for empowerment. The goal is to combat numerous stressors, including anti-Asian hate, the toll on healthcare professionals, the inability to travel to the Philippines, and the isolation of virtual learning. “The past year has been remarkably trying, not just for the Filipino American community, but communities everywhere. The lockdown, COVID, economic concerns, the presidential election, and the social justice movement created a cauldron of reactions that manifested itself in 2020,” said American City Council Member David Oro. 16 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY
RESTORING
MENTAL HEALTH Napa County’s Filipino community addresses the pandemic
Oro said telling the history of the Filipino community is a way to acknowledge the expectations and contributions that Napa County residents have faced, “even as the cauldron is still
bubbling.” “Approximately one third of the population of American Canyon is of Asian descent, with many residents being Filipino and Filipino American. You can’t
find a street in American Canyon without a Filipino nurse living there. These members of our community were and are the frontline workers. They have continued to care for the sick admirably while they, their families, and the community are caring for them,” said Oro. March 2021 data from National Nurses United, the largest union of registered nurses (RNs) in the U.S., show that approximately 26 percent of RNS who have died from COVID-19 and related complications are Filipino. Filipinos make up 4 percent of the RNs in the U.S. Lourdes Moldre, clinical director of oncology services for UC Davis Health and a member of the Philippine Nurses Association of America, said although Filipino healthcare workers have sustained losses, they have joined SUMMER/FALL 2021
