VNSNY Heroes of 2020: Dedicated VNSNY Staffers Keep Chinatown and Flushing Community Centers Open

As non-essential businesses all across the New York metropolitan area close to help mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, the dedicated staff at VNSNY’s Chinatown and Flushing Community Centers are putting extra precautions in place so that they can keep their doors open as a lifeline of care and connection for the vulnerable New Yorkers they serve. While the situation remains fluid, the Centers will remain open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily until further notice.

“We have to stay true to our VNSNY mission—we are here to serve—and will be here as long as we possibly can,” says Teresa Lin, Director, Cultural Market Development Initiatives. “There’s a lot of fear and a lot of need in the Asian community right now, but people know they can walk through our doors and we’ll be here to help them. We’ve been here for more than twenty years, and they know us and trust us.”

Christine Chan (left) and Carrie Ng

On Monday, while many in the city began new remote working routines, Carrie Ng, Manager of the VNSNY Chinatown and Flushing Community Centers, was in place as usual with her colleagues Christine Chan, Program Assistant and Christy Chan, VNSNY CHOICE MAP Education Enrollment Specialist, to answer questions and provide services for members of the community. At the VNSNY Center in Flushing, Lau Gan(Sandy) Chan, Program Assistant, was there to greet clients and staff as well, with weekend staffers, Chun Kong, Ruijuan Mai and JingLin Li scheduled on rotations on Saturday and Sunday to provide seven-days-a-week coverage at both Centers.

“I’m so proud of our staff—they want to be here, they care, and they want to help those in our community who are confused or fearful about all the changes that are happening,” Teresa added.

Though the Chinatown and Flushing Community Centers have cancelled workshops and class activities in accordance with New York City’s prohibition on large gatherings, the Centers are still seeing some foot traffic. “That’s because people know they can call or just walk in, and we’ll be standing by to help,” noted Teresa. To ensure they’re able to provide services safely, the centers are following all VNSNY COVID-19 Screening and Safety Protocols, and are ensuring that hand sanitizers and multiple restrooms are available for handwashing as frequently as needed.

On Monday, the Chinatown Center staff helped several members of the community who needed assistance completing and filing NYC-210 forms. Others came in with questions about processing medical forms related to the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) and several other entitlements. “Lots of times people come in just to have us help them read their mail,” Teresa says. “They’ll get a letter that they don’t understand, and they know we can help them with language proficiency in English. They are so appreciative for the help we provide. One lady was so grateful that she wanted to treat us all to lunch (although the staff politely declined).”

VNSNYs Flushing and Chinatown Community Centers are also important resources for clinicians in the field, who stop in between patient assessments and visits to take advantage of workstations or heat up lunch in the microwave—especially in the wake of so many restaurants closing in the two neighborhoods.

“These are our neighbors,” Teresa says. “They need us now more than ever, and we are very proud to bring them the services and assistance they need.”

Please share your own reports on what our VNSNY heroes are doing. You can submit your stories here.