about us

In Cantonese, Yik Oi means “Abundant Love”, and abundant love is the foundation upon which Communities As One is built on.

Communities as One (CAO) is a 501(c)(3) Community-Based Organization (CBO). Its founding in 2020 was inspired by Grandma Yik Oi Huang’s death: to be a catalyst for healing and racial solidarity; to transmute crisis into opportunity; hate into abundant love. Since then, CAO has been advocating and building programs for wholeness and wellness, to counteract the traumas of separation and violence. 

CAO is one of 40 organizations to have received US Federal grants from the American Rescue Plan in support of AAPI communities and survivors of gender-based violence and sexual assault. We partner with values-aligned organizations, such as the National Organization of Asian Pacific Islanders Ending Sexual Violence (NAPIESV) and the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence (API-GBV), to create culturally specific programming, like Move the Qi, Daoist Internal Neigong for AAPI, Wellness Wednesdays, and more.  

Mission

Communities As One (CAO) fosters reconnection, hope, and peace after violence through culturally specific programs that empower healing for individuals and communities. We unite diverse communities to share cultural practices and ancestral healing traditions via food, movement, and land stewardship, emphasizing reciprocity with each other and the Earth.

Vision

CAO envisions a future where all communities thrive and are grounded in embodiment, connection, and abundant love. We strive to make our shared ecosystem healthier and whole by centering and prioritizing healing. We advocate for peace and unity rather than separation and violence in the world.

 values

  • Stagnancy results in dis-ease. Flow results in vitality. We believe movement and internal cultivation can impact each other through the pursuit and practice of embodying our most authentic and vibrant selves in the world.

  • “We are all born in relationships,” says Esther Perel. “We all have legacies, and we all want to find ways to connect with ourselves and others.” We believe everyone deserves patience, empathy, love, and compassion, choosing understanding over judgment. This happens by staying curious and practicing accountability.

    We embrace an inclusive vision that honors human dignity and the inherent worth of every person. Building trust takes time, and so we believe in cultivating relationships at the speed of trust. We also recognize that we all have a responsibility to care for one another. Each of us holds unique gifts—our “medicine”—that can support others. By sharing resources and culturally specific practices, we create a loving community where healing and empowerment lead us toward our shared goal: thriving together.

  • Healing is a collective journey. We believe in indigenous wisdom, storytelling, and community as powerful tools for growth and transformation. Together, we can turn pain into peace, hurt into love. This kind of transformation requires a supportive community and intentional space to strengthen our relationships with ourselves, each other, and the earth.

    “No one is free until we are all free,” a phrase attributed to Martin Luther King, Jr., reminds us of our interconnectedness. Rooted in the Jewish ethical tradition of mussar, this idea encourages us to be mindful of others’ struggles, reflect on our actions, and honor our shared bonds.

    How we care for ourselves shapes how we show up for others. When we prioritize healing and connection, we build stronger, more loving communities.Item description

  • Nature nurtures us, and we nurture it in return. By caring for nature as a community, we learn to care for one another.  We slow down, finding nourishment in the world around us—the people, animals, and plant allies that sustain us. Together, we move and breathe as one, deeply connected, because our lives depend on it.

our story

- Yik Oi Huang Art Collage: Rosanna Chang

On January 8th 2019, my 88 year old grandmother Yik Oi went out for her morning stroll and was brutally attacked by a black youth at the playground across the street from her house and left to die. We found her in a coma. Unable to speak or move, she survived for a year in the hospital under the great care of doctors, nurses, family and friends. 

I was turning 35 and had just entered a period of personal and spiritual transformation. At the time, I believed this was an opportunity for truth and reconciliation within the greater community. “Why are we all living in fear of one another? Pitted against each other?” This felt like an opportunity to listen to each other and transform what I was feeling, what my family was feeling, into something positive, into love and unity.

I spoke about Yik Oi’s legacy, her name translating to “Abundant Love”, how she easily befriended strangers on the street with just an open-hearted radiant smile. I held events with the intention to turn pain into purpose by building solidarity across communities. People came to listen and rallied to show their support for Grandma’s recovery. 

However, nearly a year later, Grandma succumbed to her injuries and passed away on January 3rd, 2020. 

In response to this overwhelming act of violence, Communities as One (CAO) was born. We are determined that Grandma’s legacy be a catalyst for healing and uniting our communities.

In late Feb 2020, COVID began and there was an explosion of anti-Asian violence. CAO created a campaign called “Asians Belong” to embrace our stories and our existence and to say that we have been here, we are not going anywhere, we belong here and we will leave a better world than we found it.

As of May 2022, after 2 years of campaigning and coalition building, Communities as One successfully led the effort to change the name of Visitacion Valley Playground to Yik Oi Huang Peace & Friendship Park. On June 15, 2024, we held a name-unveiling celebration with great fanfare. We hope this naming and recognition from our community and the San Francisco Recreation and Park Commissioners embodies our collective vision of fostering a community free from violence and grounded in healing and compassion.  

As of May 2023, Communities as One joined over 40 organizations, both nationally and locally, in an effort to provide culturally-specific, community-based support for survivors and advocates of domestic violence (DV) and sexual assault (SA) from AA+PI communities across the U.S. and Pacific. 

Communities As One is proud and honored to be a recipient of the federal grant from the American Rescue Plan. Together, we are advancing an inclusive vision of healing and resiliency. We are committed to providing tools to feel strong, resilient, whole, and healthy in mind-body-spirit, we encourage a world of love, compassion, solidarity for all.

Thank you for being with us on this journey.

- Sasanna Yee, Executive Director of CAO