We’re Saving Lives. Help Us Keep Going.
The Khalsa Community Center (KCC) is the first-ever free Punjabi-Sikh mental health and community center in the United States., and we’re on a mission to build a permanent home that can meet the urgent needs of our growing community.
We started this project because we saw a critical gap: Punjabi-Sikh families, especially immigrants and asylum seekers, were struggling to find culturally competent, affordable mental health care and youth programming. Our current center, though impactful, is simply too small and deteriorating. We currently have waitlists for therapy, tutoring, and other programs. The waitlists are up to 80 people. Even our events, like senior gatherings, are full, we simply don’t have the space to welcome more people. Our facility has mice, faulty plumbing, and no room to grow.
We’ve explored leasing, but none of the options meet our needs — they’re costly, long-term, and not designed for community well-being. That’s why we’ve found a piece of land and launched this fundraiser with a goal of raising $600,000 to build a purpose-designed space that reflects our vision of healing, education, and community.
Why This Project Matters
We’re saving lives. Our free mental health therapy has changed lives — helping individuals heal from trauma, cope with anxiety and depression, process grief, recover from abuse, navigate the everyday stressors of life and so much more. We have been told countless times that without the Khalsa Community Center, individuals would have never gotten help.
We’re building future leaders. Our tutoring and Punjabi education programs are empowering over 50 youth weekly, this number would be a lot larger if we had the capacity to fit everyone.
We’re preserving our culture. Through arts, kirtan, language, and values, we’re helping diasporic Punjabi-Sikh children and families stay connected to their roots. Children and adults in the West typically struggle to find belonging being too Punjabi for the West and too Western for Punjab. Khalsa Community Center helps fill that gap and lets individuals find community that is just like them while connecting with their Punjabiness and Sikhi.
We’re meeting a crisis with compassion. Our community faces language barriers, stigma, and cultural disconnect in mainstream systems. KCC fills that gap with trust, care, and dignity.
How Donors Can Help
Your donation can help us reduce wait time and support more people in our community. For example, we have a 6-month waiting list for tutoring because we don’t have the space to serve every child who needs help.
Please consider giving what you can and help spread the word by telling your friends and family. Together, we can make a bigger impact.
All funds raised will go directly toward:
- Purchasing the land (already negotiated)
- Construction of the new center
- Permit, architect, and engineering fees
- Basic furnishings and setup of classrooms, therapy rooms, and community areas
We’ve already begun securing long-term sustainability through Medi-Cal reimbursements, and we are actively applying for grants to support programming post-construction. We are not just asking for charity, we’re inviting investment in a self-sustaining, life-saving space for generations to come. We are unable to certify with Medi-Cal at our current facility, as the landlord will not fix the fire sprinklers. That is over $200,000 of lost revenue every single year. Due to the location of the land, we are planning to build 2 billboards which will also help sustainability. We expect these revenues to be over $36,000 a year. In fact, if we are able to fundraise this amount, the mortgage for the real estate will actually be LESS than what we are currently paying for in rent for a smaller space.
This isn’t just a building. It’s a safe space, a school, a sanctuary, and a bridge — helping our community heal and thrive.