Welcome to the tenth week of our campaign highlighting essential workers. 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 tenth essential worker feature focuses on Shuping Deng, Supervisor of CPC ONA Opportunity Center. The following snippet is from a Q&A that took place between Chris Kuo of CPC Leadership Council and Shuping Deng, Supervisor of CPC ONA Opportunity Center, an initiative funded by the Office for New Americans (ONA) that offers immigrants support with naturalization and citizenship. 

Chris Kuo, Leadership Council: What are your thoughts on how COVID-19 has impacted CPC? 

Shuping Deng, ONA Opportunity Center Supervisor: I think everyone at CPC has done so much these last couple of months in response to the pandemic, with staff taking on additional roles to meet the community's needs. I remember that when the pandemic first started, we were talking about different ways to help out, like giving out fresh produce boxes, hot meals, and PPE. We weren't sure then whether we would have the capacity to do those things, but then so many of our staff members just jumped at the opportunity to help out. We all wanted to do our part. It's been so inspiring working with CPC and knowing that everyone is willing to lend a hand to support our community through this crisis. We have been able to bring together staff and volunteers from different boroughs and programs in ways we haven't before. A lot of community members feel so comfortable with us that they tell us their entire life story. They trust the work that we're doing and call us because they believe in what we have to say, whether it's about immigration, benefits, or COVID-19. That trust also means we are able to better support them. It's hard to help someone who isn't willing to share their entire background with you. I think it is really important that CPC is so well known in the community. A lot of people can see that we provide high-quality assistance. 

Share Shuping'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.