By Shirley Ng, AsAmNews Staff Writer
Asian American seniors in need of assistance and important information about COVID-19 may not be getting it due to both a language barrier and a lack of access to the internet.
We rely heavily on technology just to navigate our daily lives more than ever before. News updates on COVID-19, including valuable information about emergency resources and assistance, can mostly be found on the web. This includes information about free meals for seniors, how to apply for unemployment benefits and whether one will be getting a stimulus check.
I tried to help a friend get information for homebound seniors about a free meal program so I called Aging Connect, a service of the New York Department for the Aging. I ended up on hold for 20 minutes while listening repeatedly to the same message over and over again in English. It offered no prompts for other languages. The message did not mention anything about free meals or COVID-19 either. If I was my 75-year-old mother who only speaks Cantonese, I would have hung up feeling frustrated and helpless. I can only imagine if others like her calls this number, only to hit a brick wall.
A pleasant woman took my call after waiting for 20 minutes. She explained how the free meal program worked to me. Then I pointed out to her how the on-hold message was only in English and didn’t offer other languages. I didn’t expect her to have an answer for me, but she replied that the agency has been very busy and would have called a language line if translation was required. To me, the language line actually wouldn’t have proved helpful without a multi-language greeting when the call is answered. I tagged the Department of Aging of my complaint on Facebook and got a reply back. It thanked me for pointing out the language issue and said they “are working to get it resolved.”
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Even if websites have options for other languages, what if someone has no access to the internet? How would non-English speaking seniors and those living below the poverty line access this information. Some also do not have a television, radio or even a smart phone. How would they learn about any assistance during this pandemic?
My friends in Chinatown, an elderly couple told me they have nothing but their cell phone, their only piece of technology. It makes telephone calls and receives photos. I asked if they had a radio to listen to any of the two Chinese radio stations in New York City, something very common in Chinese households when I was growing up in Chinatown. They said they don’t own one.
This lack of access to news for many Chinese seniors during this pandemic led to me to a little humanitarian mission.
I feel for the Chinese seniors and the low-income people. These are the vulnerable in Chinatown, the ones typically without internet access. Some may have just lost their job and now must choose between buying food or a newspaper that may tell them of life saving information, such as where to get a COVID-19 test. As a reporter, I know how important news is, so I wanted to get the news to them.
I reached out to my contacts at the Chinese newspaper, World Journal. They know me in the community as an Asian American reporter, who can’t read or write Chinese to save her life, (ha ha) except for her Chinese name. I asked if they would be willing to donate 75 copies of their newspaper. I explained my mission to distribute their Chinese language newspaper to the seniors in the community and the low income. They obliged on Friday, just within a day of my request and didn’t once question my efforts. I also told them upon seeing how things go on Saturday, I may want do this on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. Getting the donation was half of my mission and the other half was a matter of executing it the next day.
World Journal printers are located in Flushing, Queens and just like any other newspaper, it prints over night and is delivered in the early morning around 5am. My contact Jacob asked me, where I would be at 5am Saturday morning. In my head, I laughed to myself, “sleeping.” I live an hour away from Chinatown by car and the delivery drivers needed an early morning drop-off in Chinatown. I recruited my friend Joe whom I thought would be most helpful since he lives in Chinatown and was willing to wake up to get the newspapers for me.
The newspapers were delivered without an issue at Joe’s apartment building early Saturday. I met him around noon and got the newspapers together. While practicing social distancing we set out into Chinatown with our masks on per the city’s orders. I handed the newspapers out with my gloved hands, while Joe carried most of the papers. I was selective, offering it to the elderly in my good Cantonese. I said, “This is a free copy of the World Journal. Would you want one?” Some said “No, thank you,” and some were very grateful. I targeted seniors waiting in line at a restaurant and those going in and out of markets. Since I also wanted to give away newspapers to get to those that were low income, but wasn’t sure who they were, I gave it to anyone who asked for one. One man who took the newspaper said to me in Cantonese “You’re such a good person.”
Joe was with me most of the time delivering in the streets, but had to take off later on. I continued to wander through Chinatown on a cold cloudy day. It was my first time in Chinatown in over a month since the stay at home order to “flatten the curve.” I looked at all the steel gates that signaled that the business was closed as I offered free copies of the World Journal. I felt terribly sad at what I saw, yet here I was trying to get the news to the people of Chinatown that perhaps something in this newspaper would tell these business owners how to help their business to survive. Do they know about the interest free loans now being offered to small businesses? Sadly, I don’t know.
I finished distributing the last few copies of the newspaper at Columbus Park, it’s equivalent to a micro Central Park in Chinatown. It is always full of people playing table games such as Chinese chess and card games, but not today. You would normally hear groups of musicians playing Chinese opera music and several singers. There were no women this afternoon, just some older men and no usual crowds. There were no table games of Chinese chess or card games being played either. They were chatting on park benches or across stone tables with the chess boards. They weren’t following the social distancing rule and some did not wear masks. I walked over to some of the men and offered the newspaper.
One man asked, “Is it today’s paper?” “Yes,” I said. He thanked me.
I finished distributing the last few copies at Columbus Park, but I saved one copy for my elderly friends and delivered it to them a few blocks away.
I was underdressed for the weather and also tired for being on my feet all day. I only took one short break when I bought hot tea and a Chinese meat filled bun that I ate on a cold building stoop. With no restaurants, a place to rest indoors are not available.
When I got home I reflected on how the day went, how I could improve on the distribution and if my mission could be more impactful. I realized if giving a free newspaper was all I could offer in lieu of free internet, then that’s all I could do. Local libraries have been able to fill that gap providing free internet use, but they are now all closed.
On Sunday morning I read an email from my contact, Jacob from World Journal. It read, “The World Journal should say thank for your donating your time and heart for our community. We will stand by your side. Should you need more copies or more days for delivery, please let me know. We are proud of you.”
He said much more, but more importantly his willingness to continue to support my mission with future donations of newspapers is great news.
I have some ideas on how I can make my mission more impactful, but some may scold me for putting myself out there and going across state lines during a pandemic if I didn’t have to. Some may also feel what I did was futile since there’s no way to gauge if my mission would yield any successful results, but that doesn’t mean I should stop trying. When we care enough about Chinatown, a small act can make a difference and getting the news to those that need it most can make a world of difference in their lives.
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