Jennifer Wang

Jennifer Wang serves on the Board of Directors for the Asian American Senior Citizens Service Center, a nonprofit that provides health and social services for Asian American elders. In this interview she discusses her own pathway to community centered work, and the COVID-19 pandemic’s affect on local AAPI communities.

KEYWORDS: Asian Americans, Asians, seniors, elders, healthcare, COVID-19, anti-Asian racism, culture,

Interview Transcript

When the first patient was actually diagnosed, I still remember it was a late Saturday. That Sunday morning, we mobilized. We mobilized in regards to right now we need to call all of our partners that we’re organizing, like the Lunar New Year, and cancel. And then after that, you know, looking at what happened in Asia, we started purchasing certain items that we knew we did not want our seniors out there to have to be exposed. Not only to the virus, but also we anticipate the discrimination and the backlash. So we ordered toilet paper, we ordered the oximeters, we ordered so many items, because we wanted to make sure our seniors’, number one, had the essentials. And number two, understood that there was somebody out there who was caring for them.

Staff, and the elders they serve, at the Asian American Senior Citizens Services Center. Photo Courtesy of AASCSC.

[How Has Covid-19 Affected the Community You Serve?]

When COVID-19 first hit, I still remember that first Sunday—the Saturday was when they had the first confirmed patient in Orange County—so Sunday, our senior volunteers, those leaders, they had called. And we were asking them what’s going on, because like I said, they were already aware of COVID-19. Lots of people are panicking because they all want to cancel their medical appointments. And these seniors, lots of them have a chronic disease. [With] chronic disease you need to make sure that you’re connected with your provider. And so with that said, we were already prepared, because we also were in touch with those providers. And they told us, we should switch to telehealth for them. That means if you have a computer, if you have internet access, you can have face to face [communication] with your doctor. So you know what we hear in the news across the country, within Orange County, physical attacks, People getting hurt, people getting beat up. Most recently an elderly man who is physically attacked on the bus. And then there are people who are being verbally attacked. And then there are those who read the news or read chats, and they’re actually very hurt by what they read. Because for some of them, I can say it’s sort of a wake up call, in terms of they didn’t realize how much hate there was. And they didn’t realize that it would affect them.

[Pathway to Community Work]

When you’re younger, your parents of course: your choices in life, you’re either going to become a doctor, a lawyer, or an engineer. And then when you get a little older: pharmacy, you can be a pharmacist—that might be a good choice. And you know, from my background, my mom studied business, my dad studied chemistry. That essentially your choices, if you’re going to follow them, might be what you consider a little limited. But once I hit college, actually, I think they were just a bit more relaxed in terms of “Okay, now you’re an adult.” Because, technically, when you go to college you’re an adult, They were a bit more flexible. And so there is definitely potential and whatever field that you choose, you can make money. But you also have to make a choice in terms of, you know, what effect you’re going to have, and making a positive impact in the community. And so I decided to switch my major to Asian American Studies, and then I was also a policy minor. And then with that, I was exposed to lots of urban planning classes. And so when it was time to apply for graduate school, I applied for urban planning. And, you know, that just really opened my eyes to what interdisciplinary means. 

[Final Thoughts on Community]

And so I think that what I really want the next generation to learn is not everybody is going to have to know how to speak Mandarin or Chinese or whatever second language. You need to learn more about the cultural language. Cultural language in terms of their actions really are conveying how they really feel—from what they say with their eyes, what they say with their body language. You need to be able to read that. And like I said, what I do here, we wouldn’t exist if there wasn’t that need. 

Interviewers: Qianru Li and Songyue Zhang

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