African American Family Services, Inc.

Our Mission

Our mission is to help the African American individual, family, and community to reach a greater state of well-being through the delivery of community-based, culturally specific chemical health, mental health, and family preservation services.

Our Vision

We will act as the preeminent thought and research leader on African American behavioral health and wellness.

Our Values

We believe that culture matters.

We believe in a holistic approach, emphasizing wellness and treating the whole person with dignity and respect.

We believe in developing people’s strengths, not focusing on their weaknesses.

We believe it is our responsibility to be of service to our communities.

We believe in innovation.

Our History

African American Family Services (AAFS) was founded in 1975 as a grassroots organization providing culturally specific services for chemically dependent people. Over our 35-year history, we have developed into the Twin Cities’ preeminent holistic behavioral health and wellness service provider for the African American community.

As we grew, AAFS' services expanded to help clients address mental illness and family violence, issues that often co-exist with chemical dependency. We also created a complement of co-located wrap-around services, including family counseling, family violence prevention, crisis intervention, and home-based services.

In recent years, the influx of immigrants from African countries like Somalia has sparked collaboration with and support of community-based organizations that serve this population, with a special focus on behavioral health services.

AAFS is a results-based organization that relies on evaluation to promote excellence. Our Quality Assurance Division measures agency performance, outcomes, performance improvement initiatives, and client satisfaction, with a goal of creating wellness both for the people we serve and the organization itself.