Greater Boston Chinese Golden Age Center started in 1971
after neighborhood activists including members of community organizations, seniors,
merchants, professionals, students, and leaders recognized the lack of services to the
Chinese-speaking elders. After much lobbying, the City's Boston Redevelopment
Authority responded by leasing the use of a store front at 239 Harrison Avenue to
establish a drop-off center for a token payment of $1.00. Although there were no
funds available, the center was launched because hours of labor went into cleaning and
painting to create a place where elderly could socialize. Boston's Commission on
Affairs of the Elderly supported the center by providing part-time staff to cook and serve
Chinese-style meals to approximately 40 participants. Furniture and kitchen
equipment were donated by friends, local institutions, and merchants.
In January 1972, the Chinese Golden Age Center was
formally created and received qualification as a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization.
The Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs awarded the Center a start-up grant
for staffing, allowing the Center to purchase a van and to plan and implement programs.
The grant ended in 1975. Subsequently, the Center received other grant awards
earmarked for social and protective services. After its relocation in 1978 to a more
spacious facility, the Center began to expand its programs and services.
Greater Boston Chinese Golden Age Center takes pride in
its comprehensive network of programs and services. They include an extensive
nutrition program (first received funding in 1976) that provides congregate meals through
a subcontract with Kit Clark Senior Services, an adult day health nutrition program funded
through the Massachusetts Department of Education since 1992, and a home delivered meals
program funded through Boston Senior Home Care since January 1994 and Central Boston Elder
Services since October 1995. What is significant about these meal programs is that
they have enabled Golden Age Center to establish itself as an ethnic meal provider and
meet a growing need for Chinese-style meals. The agency now prepares several hundred
meals a day.
Greater Boston Chinese Golden Age Center also runs an
Adult Day Health/Transportation program at its three sites: Quincy Tower, Hong Lok House,
and Brighton House. Funding for this program comes primarily from the government.
Greater Boston Chinese Golden Age Center started a supportive day program in
1985. Currently, provider agreements with Boston Senior Home Care, Central Boston
Elder Services, and South Shore Elder Services allow for funding should a client or
clients meet eligibility guidelines. A personal emergency medical response system
(first funded in 1982) targets frail elders and provides them with an extra measure of
protection. A provider agreement exists with Boston Senior Home Care.
Other programs include drop-in social service programs,
which has been continuously funded since the mid-1980. They are currently funded
through Title III-B grants with Boston’s Commission on Affairs of the Elderly, Mystic
Valley Elder Services, Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services, South Shore Elder Services and
Springwell, as well as Community Development Block Grant, administered by Boston's Office
of Jobs and Community Services. A senior service project, funded since 1994,
provides employment and training opportunities for Asians living in Suffolk and Norfolk
counties who are 55 and over. A health promotion and education program continues
under a three-year grant with Boston’s Commission on Affairs of the Elderly. A
health promotion and education program through a New England Medical Center grant that
began at the end of 2001 focuses on mental health. Also, Greater Boston Chinese
Golden Age Center receives funding from Massachusetts General Hospital for participation
in its dementia research.
Greater Boston Chinese Golden Age Center also received
grant awards that started in FY 2002 for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder
Affairs' Prescription Advantage and SHINE (Serving the Health Information Needs of the
Elderly) programs as well as the Caregiver Alliance of Suffolk County's grant for an Asian
caregiving program. In addition, the Boston Public Health Department awarded grants
during FY 2002 for women’s health and walking programs and again in FY 2003 for the
Boston NeighborWALK program. Also in FY 2003, the Elder Services of the Merrimack Valley
awarded a three year grant to GBCGAC, which started in February 2003 . As a result,
GBCGAC is a lead agency through the Medicare/Medicaid Outreach and Education
Program.
Recreational activities are held throughout the year at
each site and special ones such as last year's health fair and Christmas banquet are held
for the entire Center. In addition, GBCGAC holds an annual banquet where friends
from the community come together for celebration and fund raising.
As the name indicates, GBCGAC covers Greater Boston. While the greatest concentration of
Chinese-speaking Asians occurs in the cities of Boston, Quincy, and Malden, lesser numbers
of Chinese-speaking Asians live throughout the area, most often in Suffolk, Norfolk and
Middlesex counties. Currently, the Center has
three of its own sites. The oldest is Quincy Tower
at 5 Oak Street West, which first started serving elders in 1978. Hong Lok House at 25-31 Essex Street, which first
started serving elderly in the community and providing Section 8 housing to low income
elders in 1982. Brighton House at 677
Cambridge Street opened its doors as a Golden Age Center site in 1985. Four additional sites include Wollaston Lutheran Church
in Quincy, Malden Council on Aging, Cambridge Council on Aging and Brookline Council on
Aging.
Both Greater Boston Chinese Golden Age
Centers’ client base that includes a mailing list of close to 6,000 and its scope of
service continue to grow. Greater Boston
Chinese Golden Age Center also provides a primarily bilingual staff, comprised of about 80
full-time and part-time workers, who can interface with clients in a culturally sensitive
and linguistically appropriate manner. Although
Greater Boston Chinese Golden Age Center does provide English classes, the Center cannot
expect that most of its client will develop fluency in the languages. Their advanced age is apt to impede the learning
process, and their exposure to English outside of class is often limited.
Since the language barrier will continue to be an
obstacle that needs to be overcome, Greater Boston Chinese Golden Age Center fulfills an
important role as a provider. This is
especially so since other senior centers do not duplicate Greater Boston Chinese Golden
Age Center’s efforts. They do not have
bilingual staff to serve Chinese-speaking Asian elders.
Therefore, the mission of Greater Boston Chinese Golden Age Center to focus on the
general welfare of Greater Boston’s Chinese-speaking Asian elders by providing
linguistically sensitive and culturally appropriate programs and services remains relevant
and necessary.
