The new Center for Pacific and Asian Communities is preparing to start services in a targeted effort to provide cultural-specific support for victims of domestic violence.

The center, which is attached to the Domestic Violence Action Center, will focus on providing outreach, education, access to safety and healing, and understanding of family violence.

“The first challenge for many of our immigrants in particular is they don’t know the language, and they’re not familiar with the U.S. culture,” said Cristina Arias, senior technical adviser for the new center. “We want to break that barrier, knowing that when they reach out for CPAC services, they know they’re working with a person who is from their own community.”

Arias, who is also vice president of Survivor Advocacy Services at DVAC, said the center will be the first agency in the state to work specifically with Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in this type of support.

The idea for the new center came from the realization that much of DVAC’s services have been utilized by Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities, she said. In the past fiscal year, 44% of services were rendered to Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Hawaiian and Compact of Free Association communities (Micronesian, Palauan and Marshallese), as well as those of mixed Asian ethnicities, Arias said.

The center’s goal to address culturally specific challenges would allow other agencies to more effectively address the community’s needs, she added.

CPAC is applying for grants that will specifically support the communities it plans to serve. Officials are also working on hiring a bilingual Filipina advocate and organizing support groups for Filipinos, since they are one of the most frequently serviced demographics at DVAC.

“It’s really important for us to hire bilingual and bicultural advocates and attorneys who can really work very effectively with the AAPI communities that we’re serving,” Arias said.

As CPAC is accepted for more grants, it will begin hiring advocates to serve other demographics. The center also plans to begin outreach efforts and disseminate more information on its services soon, Arias said.

Linsey Dower covers ethnic and cultural affairs and is a corps member of Report for America, a national service organization that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.