A recent report by the Asian American Federation entitled “Working but Poor” has caused a heated reaction in New York’s Asian-American community. On October 30, a group of close to 100 leaders of immigrant organizations convened to discuss the report and point out issues it failed to highlight.

Representatives at the meeting agreed that although the problems confronting Asian-American communities extend far beyond those discussed in the report, it nonetheless captures important outlines of the situation. They hope that the report will help bring these issues to the attention of the New York City government, and spur the City to provide a more equitable amount of economic aid and services to Asian-American groups.

Hong Lee, co-chairman of the Asian American Council, points out that although the report mentions that 97 percent of elderly Asian Americans are immigrants and 91 percent have limited English-language skills, the problems confronting elderly Asians do not stop at language. Since some senior citizens can take care of themselves and others need assistance in daily tasks, their needs are not all met by elderly care facilities. Home-care services like those provided by the Chinese-American Planning Council and the New York Visiting Nurse Service are a good means of filling this gap.

Senior citizens often suffer abuse

David Chen, executive director of the Chinese-American Planning Association, says that many people mistakenly assume that the elderly cannot work and are thus burdens upon the household. Surveys show that elderly members actually lighten the financial loads of households by as much as $1,000 a month through the care they provide for children and even for older relatives. Yet, because of language, health, and life issues, many elderly are the objects of abuse – verbal, physical, and emotional – and many elderly are unwilling to live with their families; however, elderly care centers have limited resources and are often unable to help solve this problem.

A representative from the Queens Purlin Association, an immigrant advocacy group, noted that this report represents an act of unity on the part of many different Asian-American groups, and calls for Asian Americans to raise their voices together to fight for their common rights and interests. With the economy in a state of decline and many nonprofit organizations facing funding shortages, he hopes that this report will help New York City government officials to better understand the needs of Asian immigrants and allocate their funding accordingly, giving real aid to the lower-income Asians who need it most and helping them escape their dire circumstances.