Safer Together

At Safer Together, we believe a world free from barriers to well-being is possible.
And to make this vision a reality, we're building networks of community care.

For most people, the COVID-19 story goes something like this: In 2020 our world changes permanently. A virus single-handedly shuts down all of our institutions and costs millions of lives. People shelter in place. As confusion spreads over its causes and proper precautions, experts race to develop solutions. As the year progresses we experience key breakthroughs: tests which screen for the virus and vaccines which limit their impact on our wellbeing. Debates persist over whether any of this is helpful, but after an intense Omicron wave in 2022, case numbers begin to steadily deplete. In 2023 COVID-19 is no longer a State of Emergency. The mainstream returns to “normal.”

For the communities we work with, it’s a different story. In 2020 a new virus complicates a landscape that’s already impossible to navigate. There are hardly any accessible and antiracist institutions. People have no choice but to continue working. Trust in solutions has been low for years, owing to histories of discrimination in public health. Rapid tests are only available in affluent communities, and reliable information on vaccines is difficult to understand. And even after these resources are finally made available through grassroots efforts, when the dust settles it casts a deep lens on the health issues that have plagued our communities for decades. Things have never been normal.

We are here to make it easier to breathe for all our loved ones.

Pacific Islander communities are among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, and for too long have had to suffer the consequences of environmental racism on long-term health. We are keenly aware that links between housing options, limited health institutions, job options, and case rates for respiratory illness are not mere coincidences for our loved ones, and since our inception we have worked relentlessly to narrow the chasm of inequality keeping the community from the care they need and deserve.

In 2021 we offered COVID-19 rapid tests at no cost and with no need for insurance. We stuck with the community and our commitment to free services even through the Omicron wave of 2022. When the dust settled, we had administered over 83,000 rapid tests, 27% of which went to the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. We then shifted our organizational focus to clean air through our Safer Air initiative, which has equipped so many in our communities with no-cost clean air filters, mitigating the negative impact of pollution on our ability to function and thrive. The AAPI community makes up 33% of those living in housing complexes and SROs who have availed of our air filters and continue to use these tools to breathe more easily.  

We lead with the community and we move together.

Movements are built on solid and sustainable relationships. We work closely with 30+ community-based organizations, including United Playaz, All My Usos, and SOMCAN to make a collective impact that empowers all of us to live long and fulfilling lives. We acknowledge that no issue operates in isolation - and that coming together is the key to solutions that stick.

We approach community building with intention, situating our work where it is most essential: in communities like SOMA, Bayview/Hunters Point, the Tenderloin, and Visitacion Valley, where so many AAPI families call home and wrestle with the realities of environmental racism every day.

Our deep impact owes to the most crucial element to community empowerment - the community itself. Our leaders come directly from the communities we work with and possess both an intimate familiarity with the land and a burning passion to build a community that is better than when we first entered. If it does not serve the community's interest we do not do it. If it does not help the community to heal, we do not do it. Community is our north star.

We'd love for you to join our movement and be a champion for community care!