ALAS Cultural Arts and Music Programs

ALAS Cultural Arts and Music Programs offers Ballet Folklórico and Mariachi as part of its cultural arts activities. The program also includes counseling, group circles, art therapy, and music therapy as part of its services.

Since 2011, ALAS has served with a dual focus on immediate needs and long-term transformation. The program is led by Dr. Belinda Hernandez Arriaga, Ed.D, L.C.S.W., Founder and Executive Director of ALAS. ALAS is dedicated to working for social wellness through multicultural practices, mental health care, individualized and collective support related to education, immigration processes, and work, and advocating for the wellbeing of the whole community. ALAS is a nationally recognized, award-winning nonprofit and was named Non-Profit of the Year by the State of California.

ALAS is the first Latino-driven and first farmworker-driven nonprofit on the North Coast. Its cultural arts programs include Ballet Folklórico and Mariachi and focus on culture as medicine by blending tradition with evidence-based care. ALAS partners with Stanford University and the University of San Francisco to provide mental health support and research. ALAS gathers thousands each year for Día de Los Muertos, holiday posadas, and pumpkin festivals, and engages in community organizing and advocacy, including helping secure and design 555 Kelly, the Coastside’s first affordable housing project for farmworker elders. The organization also operates an Equity Bus that brings vital health resources directly to the fields and has created the Chords of Hope short film about the farmworker community.

Last updated July 6, 2026.