Members of the Yet Keen Seniors’ Centre at a Chinese New Year celebration in 2015. The centre provides support and opportunities to socialize for Chinese seniors. Now in its 30th year, the centre is looking to the community for financial support.
by Joe Liu
Located in Ottawa’s bustling and iconic Chinatown, Somerset West Community Health Centre’s Yet Keen Seniors’ Day Centre provides an opportunity for Chinese-speaking seniors to socialize and engage. The programs run four days a week and cater to the well-being of an often overlooked population: Chinese-speaking seniors.
Not only is Yet Keen a place for Chinese seniors to socialize with others, it is also a place of learning and integrating into their immediate environment. “We’ve been serving in Ottawa for more than 30 years,” says Anna Yip, the Yet Keen program coordinator. “We don’t have any catchment area. Our members come from every corner of Ottawa. The farthest is from Oxford Mills, near Kemptville.”
Due to cultural barriers, Chinese seniors can often feel lost and unable to access critical health care services available to them. Their mental well-being can also suffer as a result of feeling disconnected. Seniors can exhibit signs of distress, depression, and anxiety from navigating the system without adequate support.
“Two years ago, we launched a mental health status survey among our 250 members with the help of a student from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Ottawa, and the result is telling,” Yip told this reporter. “Seventy-two percent of the respondents reported signs of depression, anxiety and stress. Most of them worried about their health (47%), their language ability (16.3%) and becoming a burden to the family (14%). Don’t you think it’s alarming?”
Yet Keen aims to diminish these stressors and plays an important part in providing holistic support in health care and socializing, as well as ensuring that seniors lead a healthy and active lifestyle through various activities. They provide 18 classes and groups like seniors exercise, various kinds of dancing and singing, painting, Tai chi, appreciation of literature, and computer classes, among others.
“The class and group activities are totally free of charge with the help of volunteer instructors. Ninety percent of the instructors are seniors themselves!” said Yip proudly.
Moui is a Chinese/Vietnamese woman who moved to Ottawa from Vietnam during the 1970s and settled in an apartment with her sister’s family in Chinatown. “I’m single, illiterate, speak no English, and had been working on minimum wage as a kitchen maid, mainly washing plates, in some Chinese restaurants in Chinatown to earn a basic living until retirement five years ago,” she said. Being scared of losing her way home, Moui had never explored more than a kilometre away from her home or workplace.
“It was a boring 30 years.”
Moui was brought to Yet Keen three years ago after meeting one of the Yet Keen members on the street. The staff talked with her, understood her needs and expectations, and came up with a plan for her. “First, we helped her apply for community housing. Then we helped her to develop a social network by encouraging her to join various Yet Keen activities.”
Moui was invited to join the Healthy Lunch program as a volunteer cooking assistant. She also learned to use a computer from youth volunteers. “I never miss any event or activity at Yet Keen,” she says.
This reporter couldn’t help but ask where the money is coming from when he was told that Yet Keen only charges $35 for an annual membership per person. “The Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship and the City of Ottawa provide us with some core funding each year but we have always needed more. So we have to explore every opportunity to seek other funding opportunities every year,” said Yip.
For over 30 years, the Yet Keen Seniors’ Day Centre has been instrumental in the community through the staff and volunteers’ efforts and dedication. It has become a lasting organization in the heart of the Chinese community, particularly for the many seniors who rely on Yet Keen to stay connected and remain active. Now, however, Yet Keen is turning to the community for financial support to continue operating.
By being a bridge to services and activities that are fundamental to keeping seniors healthy, active and well-informed, Yet Keen is a vital community resource.
For a donation of $25 and up, Yet Keen will demonstrate their appreciation by gifting donors with a copy of Simply Delicious: Selected Recipes from 41 Seniors’ Kitchens, a recipe book compiled by 41 Yet Keen members. Donations may be made online at swchc.on.ca/cookbook or by calling 613-232-6695. Your donation, regardless of amount, is greatly appreciated!