History

Year 1
2015-2016

Youth for Chinese Seniors was founded by Chanel Ly under the Downtown Eastside SRO Collaborative and our umbrella organization Atira Development Society
Promoted outreach services to seniors on the streets with youth volunteers
Services include home visits, medical accompaniments and translation at appointments, case management regarding government benefits and housing, referrals to health services
Served over 50 individual Chinese-speaking, low-income seniors with unique needs
Held volunteer training and built pool of 20+ mostly bilingual youth volunteers
Held weekly meetings to check in with seniors and discuss shared experiences living in the DTES
Organized events that gathered over 300 seniors total: summer picnic, housing convention, Christmas lunch, Untold Stories storytelling panel
Held 3-4 tenant rights workshops in English and Chinese

Continued one-on-one outreach services to individual seniors, served about 60 seniors
Continued weekly meetings
Pool of youth volunteers grew to 50+, youth organized social events
Conducted targeted outreach to Mandarin-speaking seniors and seniors in food lines to access services and participate in events
Organized community kitchens for the purpose of Indigenous-Chinese cultural exchange
Organized seniors health fair with over 200+ senior attendees and 50+ organizations
Participated in neighbourhood wide seniors services coordination with partner organizations
Beverly Ho, our summer staff, reached out to Roddan Lodge tenants, whose building was slated to be redeveloped

Yulanda Lui succeeded Chanel Ly as the Chinese Seniors Outreach Worker
Continued outreach services to individual seniors
Continued weekly meetings
Organized street safety project, which included workshops, street banner design sessions, and a street safety fair
Built a core of volunteers to plan intergenerational events for seniors
Established peer-run groups where seniors led music gatherings and out-trips in the city
More youth volunteers taking seniors to medical appointments
Organized second annual Chinese seniors health fair
Successful in our first grassroots fundraiser in Nov 2017 - Seeds for Longevity - to open a seniors drop-in centre - $18,141

Registered as a non-profit society in March 2018
Moved into the Sun Wah Centre (BC Artscape)
Opened our intergenerational drop-in space to the community
Started the Chinatown Choose to Move program
Established friendly visiting program
Training volunteers to be Outreach Leaders and event planners
Growing towards providing more advocacy and leadership development opportunities
Established seniors core leaders group
Established Sticky Rice Youth Collective