A month ago, we kicked off our essential workers campaign. Whether working from home or within our neighborhoods, essential workers are supporting a strong recovery for those who are too often overlooked, underrepresented, or underinvested in.  

Our fifth essential worker feature focuses on Lena Chang, Member of CPC Leadership Council, Cardiology Nurse Practitioner and the Clinical Program Director for the Cardiovascular Departments at Mount Sinai Union Square and Mount Sinai Beth Israel. The CPC Leadership Council is a tight-knit community of business and nonprofit leaders who seek to advance CPC’s mission to promote social and economic empowerment of Chinese American, immigrant, and low-income communities. This interview presents the perspective of a Leadership Council member who is also an essential worker.

Chris Kuo, Leadership Council: Why are you interested in being a part of CPC Leadership Council? 

Lena Chang, Member of CPC Leadership Council, Cardiology Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Program Director: I'm actually co-chair of my hospital’s diversity council and do a lot of work with Asian care, like offering health services to seniors at community fairs. I also know that many people right now are stuck at home without a job. They need meals, resources, and services. CPC has been an amazing resource to the community. It's been involved and given back so much, and I want to do that as well. This kind of work is more important now than ever. 

Chris Kuo, Leadership Council: How did you stay motivated throughout this time? 

Lena Chang, Member of CPC Leadership Council, Cardiology Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Program Director: I think it’s that we were all in the trenches together. That gave us strength. Since many hospitals brought in temporary staff, we had a lot of people pitching in. We also witnessed amazing acts of kindness. Volunteers donated food and PPE [personal protective equipment] to us. We got Uber rides home from work. We were offered free or discounted hotel rooms. It was amazing having that kind of support in a time of so many losses. We were so exhausted, but it just kept us going. A lot of us think that if there's a second wave, we are not going to have a whole lot of energy like we did the first time. We’re worried about all these new cases appearing in the US. 

Share Lena's story using #EssentialWorkers and #AlwaysEssential.

Essential Worker Quick Facts

 Black, Latinx, and Asian people make up
more than 70% of the city’s essential workers.

Human services workers are essential workers.

New York City contracts have not set rates that accurately reflect 
human services workers' commitment to essential work.

All of CPC's staff are essential workers. 

Tweets You Can Use To Share #AlwaysEssential Posts:

Help me lift the voices of #EssentialWorkers. Like and share this post to stand in solidarity with human services workers. #AlwaysEssential bit.ly/cpc-always-essential

#EssentialWorkers risk their health and their families’ health to serve others through COVID-19. As New York begins to recover, orgs like @cpc-nyc will be among the ones helping the hardest hit New Yorkers put their lives back together. Support them here: bit.ly/cpc-covid-19-relief-fund #AlwaysEssential

About CPC
The Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC) is the nation's largest Asian American social services organization. Founded in 1965, CPC aims to promote the social and economic empowerment of Chinese American, immigrant, and low-income communities of New York City.

華人策劃協會(華策會)是全美國最大的亞裔美國人及太平洋島民社區服務機構.成立於1965年,華策會專門為紐約市的華裔美國人,移民,和低收入民眾提供金融權力和社區服務.