The University At Buffalo has been awarded a new grant meant to support WNY’s Afghan community.
The grant, awarded by the New York State Office of Mental Health (NYSOMH), will allocate $200,000 to support services for the local Afghan refugee communities, including training staff, UB said in the announcement.
The grant is related to the work of Parveen Attai, a third-year MD candidate at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB.
RELATED: UB study finds ‘forever chemicals’ in Patagonia with help from penguin researchers
Attai has worked to provide helpful support to the local Afghan community and help to start a dialogue around mental health within the community since 2024.
“This is an effort to create a continuous learning tool focused on cultural representation of the community,” Attai said in the announcement.
Funds for the grant will also be used to develop therapeutic tools for the community, including ways to with trauma in the community and on an individual level.
Up to a dozen members of the Afghan community will be trained as community mental health workers, and will eventually work with mental health techniques to support those in their community who may be struggling with trauma and/or other mental health conditions.
Those tools will be available through events such as healing circles and , which will be held From May through September of this year, according to UB.
An oral history of the local Afghan community is also expected to be developed through the grant as a way to preserve the community’s cultural identity.
“I hope this sheds a light on mental health,” Attai said. “When diaspora groups are healthier, they can contribute to a stronger, more vibrant Western New York where everyone can thrive.”