Our Chinese Seniors Outreach Program offers community building, isolation supports, translations, institution and document navigation, transportation to appointments, and advocacy.
With Chinatown and the Downtown Eastside neighbouring one another, many of the people that access our services daily are Chinese seniors. Often isolated by language barriers and mobility issues, Chinese seniors endure persistent racism.
Here are some stories of how this program helped them improve their life:
Xiao has mobility issues and is fall prone. Thanks to the program staff referrals and translation work, she was able to get a walker and other equipment. She also was able to access physiotherapy and has had an occupational therapist visiting her at home. She now is much more stable and gets to walk to the centre confidently!
Yan came to the centre after her Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) was stopped. She was not able to pay her rent and medication for long-term illness and, because of the language barrier, did not understand the reason. After investigation, the staff discovered that this was related to the tax forms not being filled in properly and fixed it by submitting the appropriate documents.
