Our Story
Empowering Health Agency LLC was established in October of 2019. Bao Lee, a social worker who is also the CEO/ Founder of the agency, has over 15 years of experience working in the mental health field. Bao has identified that the gap within the human services field and one of the leading social issues was the fact that social workers, coordinators, and human service workers were not getting the self-care and recognition that they deserve. Bao’s goal for the agency was to develop a cohesive and supportive environment for the staff employed at Empowering Health Agency LLC.
The second identified gap was the increasing corruption within the human services programs. Bao has developed a well-rounded structure to eliminate and track unethical practices. If professionals engage in corruption, clients are forced to sacrifice their quality of life due to restrictions. We, as human beings, vulnerable or not, are all a part of one community and one society. We are a part of the cycle of life, and eventually, professionals will become vulnerable, and the younger generation will become professionals. The goal is to change the face of healthcare and social services.
Empowering Health Agency LLC is on a mission to provide support and services for the vulnerable population, such as those with mental health and disabilities. The agency’s purpose is to provide meaningful services and to empower those who have been marginalized. We will offer support under the 245D license providing home and community-based services. The services are funded by waivers such as Brain Injury (B.I.), CAC, CADI, DD, and long-term service waivers.
We utilize Acceptance and Commitment Therapy as a technique to encourage our clients to identify and accept the vulnerabilities within themselves, such as the lack of knowledge around the essential skills of cooking safely or learning to find housing. Empowering Health Agency LLC will help clients develop an individualized and client-centered goal to increase their quality of life. The agency’s goal is to encourage and assist clients in maintaining their independence and in continuously creating new feasible goals.
Through the lens of the ACT modality and Feminist theory (oppression within marginalized groups), the agency will work on building positive morale by acknowledging that every individual is just as essential to the agency, whether if it is the clients, workers, or employees. Empowering Health Agency LLC believes that for professionals to be competent with their clients, the workers must understand the personal challenges and understand that their vulnerabilities can help them grow. If workers and employees are struggling, it is clear that they don’t quite understand their role, and it is the job of leadership to provide workers with the right support, guidance, and tools to be successful.
Empowering Health Agency LLC does not believe in corrective action for workers who are lacking in professional skills. Corrective action is meant for those who intentionally harm vulnerable people, such as financial exploitation, physical abuse, psychological abuse, and sexual abuse. If a worker is struggling because they were making consistent mistakes, there could be a reason as to why workers are making the mistakes, and this calls for the leadership team to determine a feasible goal for the individual. Professional growth happens when we, as human beings, make mistakes.
Empowering Health Agency LLC believes that we are human, and we must learn how to take care of ourselves while we are in the process of taking care of others.
Our Philosophy
We utilize the feminist theory as our framework to structure policies and to develop the processes at the agency. We advocate for marginalized groups and it is our purpose to teach, mentor, and enable clients to maintain an independent life for as long as possible. To achieve this goal, the agency believes that the mental and physical well-being of the professionals is imperative.
Focusing on the outcome of client’s and employees’ successes, Empowering Health Agency LLC believes that when working in the human services field, it is crucial to remember that the professionals are also human, and they have emotions, behaviors, and rights. The purpose of the agency is to aim for quality versus quantity, which means that there should be a cohesive and supportive environment for professionals. The agency strongly believes that when professionals are treated with respect, learn self-compassion, and self-care, the quality of services is guaranteed.
Our Mission Statement
Empowering Health Agency LLC view every professional in the agency as golden bars that need consistent polishing to shine (support and recognition), everyone is equally as valuable, and this includes the clients that we serve. We empower the clients and employees to grow professionally, personally, and gain insight into the reality in our society and learn how to navigate and advocate for marginalized groups.
The Founder and Owner
Bao LeeFounder
Bao Lee, MSW, is the founder of Empowering Health Agency LLC and she is a social worker who graduated with her BSW at St. Catherine University, graduated with her MSW at the University of St. Thomas and is currently working on her Ph.D. with a clinical emphasis at Walden University with an anticipated completion date of 12/2021.
Mrs. Lee’s goal is to offer services for marginalized groups and work towards creating a positive social change. Mrs. Lee has over fifteen years of experience supervising and managing within the human services field, and through her studies, skills, and effort of building professional relationships, she decided to pursue her dreams of operating an agency in which is influenced by social change, self-compassion, self-care, client-centered services, client’s autonomy, and social advocacy. Mrs. Lee has experience with the supervision of 245D programs such as home and community-based services.
While working in the field and practicing scholarly research, she found that there was a lack of acknowledgment of the people who work in the mental health field, which led to high burnout rates. Mrs. Lee’s goals are to create a working environment that allows workers to engage in self-care, self-compassion and to coach the workers with learning to embrace the services that they provide by enabling workers to practice self-care at the agency. The most significant component when providing excellent and professional services is when workers are fully supported. The workers need to understand professional boundaries to prevent burnout. Mrs. Lee firmly believes that when workers build a strong inner core and understand their identity within their role, there is no need for micromanaging. Mrs. Lee stands behind ethics and uses the National Association of Social Work (NASW) to guide her practice and decision-making processes.
Khay XiongOwner
Khay Xiong is the owner of Empowering Health Agency LLC, and he is an Economics and Business graduate from Xaiphattana Economy College. Khay understands the business model and is passionate about helping people grow personally, financially, and professionally. Khay has experience with helping the vulnerable and homeless population and supports social policy. Khay plans to expand the mental health social services programs by creating a different business model that includes self-compassion, financial growth, and holding high ethical standards.
Framework
The feminist theory is the framework that we utilize to structure the processes in the agency. Wikipedia (2019) says, “Feminist theory aims to understand gender inequality and focuses on gender politics, power relations, and sexuality. While providing a critique of these social and political relations, much of feminist theory also focuses on the promotion of women’s rights and interests (para 1).”
Empowering Health Agency LLC focuses on the inequalities of society and heavily relies on creating equality for all professionals. We do not believe in hierarchy, power, and control. All employees in the agency are perceived as colleagues – everyone comes in with their own expertise and experience, which everyone can learn from and grow professionally.
Together we work as a cohesive team to support our clients. We help them with skills building, coach them with self-advocacy skills, and most importantly, teach them self-worth. The clients should never be seen as below or incapable because they are human beings just like everyone else and deserve to be heard and acknowledged.
Empowering Health Agency LLC advocates for marginalized groups and will not tolerate discrimination of any kind. Belittling the clients is prohibited, and individuals who practice power and control will be terminated. We offer client-centered services, which means that the client should have the freedom to choose what they want to work on. The leadership team at Empowering Health Agency LLC provides support for the professionals but not to control or overpower their opinions and suggestions. The leadership team will need to actively listen to the professionals to identify root issues and help them navigate versus belittling them.
Get in Touch
If you have any inquiries or concerns, please do not hesitate to send us a message through our online form.