How Kapwa Kultural Center & Café in Daly City is reimagining mental wellness – East Bay Times

A few Filipino words are difficult to translate to English – “kapwa” – is one of them. It can mean your fellow human, a shared identity, or a kindred spirit. But not quite. It’s a word that speaks to how Filipinos value interpersonal connections.

That feeling that centers community above self is one Stephanie Garma Balon and Christi Morales-Kumasawa hope to recreate in a boba cafe, Kapwa Kultural Center & Cafe — a space they say integrates mental wellness with the beloved pearl drink.

Boba, or bubble tea, is sweetened tea with milk, ice, and those signature chewy tapioca pearls. Created in Taiwan and crafted from the starch of the cassava root, it has become not only a favorite sweet drink but a bridge between Asia and its diaspora.

Amidst the community’s political and social uncertainties in Asian American immigrant community, mental health clinicians and co-founders Garma-Balon and Morales-Kumasawa envision Kapwa in Daly City as more than just a place for boba. They hope to maintain a safe space where community members, especially Filipino Americans, can feel heard and connected to the vital mental health resources they need, and have boba at the same time.

Quotes have been edited for length and clarity.

Q: How did the idea for Kapwa Kultural Center (KKC), and the decision to make it a boba shop, come about?

Stephanie: It started as a dream when I was 19-years-old in college. Eventually, I connected with Christi, who shared a similar “heartwork” and soul mission. Together, we wanted to co-create the kind of space we lacked growing up – something we didn’t fully realize we needed until years later in adulthood. We wanted a place where you can be in community, celebrate your heritage, and speak freely about your emotions and feelings.

The funding that landed us, the seed money, to get the physical space was through Christi and I as co-chairs of the Filipino Mental Health Initiative. We’ve been doing a lot of reimagining of what it could look like for our local Filipino/Filipinx community in north San Mateo County, as there weren’t a lot of safe “brave” spaces – healing spaces – that could bring our initiative forward. We pitched the idea, it was community-informed, and it serves as a way to address cultural stigma around mental health.

Q: Is it a business that provides mental health resources or a wellness service that happens to sell boba?

Stephanie: I know that’s the running question: “What exactly are you?” But I like the mystery. Ultimately, we are creating a space that integrates kapwa into mental health and wellness, moving beyond strictly Western-rooted care. There are just so many different ways to define what healing looks like.

Q: For those who don’t know, what is kapwa?

Christi: It’s a Filipino word for which there is no perfect English translation. While it encompasses “shared identity” and “togetherness,” the true meaning goes much deeper. It is the realization of, “I see myself in you, and vice versa.” It operates almost like an unspoken code – an intuitive way of connecting and communicating without words.

Q: How did you secure funding for the cafe?

Christi: We secured our seed money through the Innovation Fund, which is part of the Mental Health Services Act. It’s a program that funds creative strategies to reach unserved or underserved communities when it comes to mental health access. Our model fit perfectly because it combines a non-clinical community touchpoint with a built-in revenue stream, giving us the leeway to run a social enterprise that helps fill critical gaps in care.

Q: Why boba?

Christi: It was community-informed because we are a youth program, we asked them, and they overwhelmingly said they wanted boba.

Stephanie: It was a natural, non-threatening entry point of engagement. People come in for boba, or the gift shop, but they end up staying for the connection and resources.

Q: Do you offer in-house therapy?

Stephanie: We’re more information and referral-based. We do not right now, but that is the bigger vision is that we would be a direct service provider

Q: What is it about boba – is it the comfort it brings?

Stephanie: Offering Filipino-inspired food and drinks is a way to bridge culture and comfort. But more than that, the whole point of KKC is to spark multi-generational conversations. We stand on the shoulders of our ancestors. Paulita Lasola Malay, a pioneer of the Filipino Mental Health Initiative, used to host “kapehan” (coffee gatherings to talk and connect). This is our version of that.

Q: What kind of boba do you offer?

Christi: We have about 15 drinks on our menu right now. Our goal is to truly amplify Filipino culture, not just through the flavors but also in the names. For example, we have a Turon Milk Tea, which is inspired by the traditional saba banana fritter and a Matcha Buko Pandan. We’ll be adding snacks to the lineup soon, too, though they aren’t quite on the menu just yet.

Q: What is the price range for your drinks?

Christi: We price our drinks strategically, at $10, because this is the model. They are a larger size –  ounces – and we find that people are more than happy to pay that because they know they are directly supporting the cause.

Stephanie: You’ll feel good about having that boba; it’s going back into programming for our youth and intergenerationally enriching programming.

Q: I’ve heard you say ‘social enterprise’ a few times – what is a social enterprise?

Christi: The model is a non-profit and a social enterprise. I would say the non-profit is like the shareholder, so whatever revenue outside of overhead, its dividends go to the non-profit. So there’s a balancing act.

Stephanie: It’s a non-profit/for-profit hybrid. The non-profits I’ve worked with historically have had one income source. This was an attempt to address that and create this innovative way of engaging with the community — to bring people in to deal with the stigma around mental health.

Q: In the Filipino community, is there anything unique about the challenges of mental health?

Stephanie: What’s unique is that the stories aren’t captured accurately. We’re often lumped under the umbrella of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. There’s not enough disaggregated data. But we’ve been boots on the ground over the last decade as Filipino Mental Health Initiative co-chairs. It’s a cultural stigma leading to some of the highest levels of anxiety, depression and suicidality. What we’re doing is speaking to the narrative of need.

Christi: It’s a story of colonization. How many times has the Philippines been colonized or occupied? And we see that because folks are feeling disconnected from their cultural roots. We see that in our youth. This is why we celebrate that and put that as one of our central focuses. It’s that community and cultural connection because of colonization, they’ll tell us my parents did not teach me how to speak the language, parents tell their kids they don’t need to speak the language to assimilate. It’s a survival strategy.

Q: Aside from boba and mental health – it’s a place where people can get work done and study, too, right?

Stephanie: Yes, we do have WiFi, a printer, we have workshops — such as legal aid and immigration rights, and other things.

Q: What is your top piece of advice for young people aiming to launch their own ventures or step into leadership roles?

Christi: I would say for them not to be afraid to seek resources or help because when Steph and I did this, it was a dream – and a vision – and the county backed it – but they didn’t know how to run such a thing. Find the resources and the folks to collaborate with to help materialize whatever dream you have.

Stephanie: I usually say, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. And what I would share with them is to dream big, find your people, especially those who are smarter than you. Hold grace for others, for yourselves, lean on your elders, ask questions, understand their struggles, because that helps to inform and motivate. A mentor also told me, ‘if there’s something you’re really passionate about, just do one thing a day that is going to get you that much closer to your vision.’