APICHA - Asian & Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS is a non-profit organization providing HIV/AIDS related services, education, and research to Asian and Pacific Islander Communities in New York City.



APICHA's mission is to combat AIDS-related discrimination and to support, empower, and enhance the quality of life of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the New York City area - particularly community members living with AIDS and HIV infection - through client services, education, training and technical assistance, community organizing, coalition building, policy analysis, and research.



In the fall of 1989, six Japanese American women activists founded APICHA after being inspired by the People of Color AIDS Conference earlier that year. Two years later, with a grant from the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Foundation and the fiscal sponsorship of the Family Health Project, APICHA hired its first two employees. By the fall of 1992, with additional support from the Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation and a contract with N.Y.C., the staff had grown to six. APICHA was incorporated in December 1992, and granted tax-exempt status in May 1993. In February 1995, we moved into a small office in the Chelsea district of Manhattan. In July 2001, we moved into our current office in Lower Manhattan.