Founded in 2021, the NGO’s “Keluarga Akrab Mencapai Impian” (Kami) programme stands as a pioneering mental health project in Malaysia.
Aimed at the low-income group, it identifies individuals at risk and offers personalised mental-health support through regular interactive sessions with families.
“The most rewarding part is when parents and youths start to open up more with each other,” clinical psychologist Teoh Rhu Yie, who oversees Kami, told FMT Lifestyle.
“At times I’ve witnessed parents telling their children ‘I love you’ for the first time. It makes all of us tear up.”
Teoh shared that part of Kami’s initiatives is tailored to teach women to recognise and address mental-health challenges within their communities.
“Our goal is to eventually step back, equipping them with the skills they need,” she explained. “Often, they have better solutions because they know their communities best.”
On Sept 17, the programme attained a further level of success when 12 women from PPR Lembah Subang and PPR Batu Muda graduated from Kami as wellbeing ambassadors.
Equipped with essential skills such as psychosocial support, public speaking, and psychological first aid, these women are poised to return to their communities as champions of mental health.
“There’s a huge stigma surrounding mental health, but it’s amazing that women from B40 communities are now open to therapy sessions,” Teoh noted.
Fifty-year-old Roslina Jalil, a single mother and one of the top three ambassadors from the programme, shared her motivation for having signed up for Kami.
“I want to help my PPR community because there are many who go through depression, even those who have attempted and taken their lives by suicide,” she told FMT Lifestyle.
Meanwhile, fellow graduate Riduwani Borhan said she liked “learning about mental health the most, because I myself have trouble dealing with my emotions”.
She said she has overcome anger issues through the programme and is now better equipped to support her two children, one of whom has autism and the other dyslexia.
“It’s important that I take care of myself first. Or else who will take care of my children? When women collapse, the entire family collapses too,” the 48-year-old added.
The wellbeing-ambassadorship programme was organised by Thrive Well in collaboration with the NGO Women of Will, which aims to create self-sustainable communities by empowering women to transform their lives through entrepreneurship.
Speaking with FMT Lifestyle, Thrive Well co-founder Tan said Kami had been inspired by an intervention programme from San Francisco.
The Californian city was where she had pursued her master’s degree in marriage and family therapy, and its Tenderloin district – notorious for high levels of crime and homelessness – became Tan’s training ground.
“I saw everything: gang violence, homicidal cases, suicidal cases, gender-based violence,” she recalled. “Coming back home to Malaysia, I thought: ‘I’ve spent 10 years abroad; it’s time to see what I can contribute in my home country’.”
Tan was thus determined to bring community-based mental-health support to Malaysia – or, as she put it, “going from Tenderloin to Chow Kit”.
“At Thrive Well, our goal is to ensure that quality mental-health support is accessible to everyone, regardless of their socioeconomic background,” she added.
And, as the NGO continues its mission to offer affordable mental healthcare to all, Malaysia may well witness a revolution in this domain, starting with these B40 communities.
Find out more about Thrive Well via its website, as well as Instagram and Facebook profiles. Also learn more about Women of Will here.
Thrive Well
Unit L5-11, Wisma BU8
11, Lebuh Bandar Utama
47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Contact: 018-900 3247