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Taking care of our community members' health and wellbeing is our mission but from time to time the health center also participates in causes relevant and important to Asian Americans. 

 

Chinese-English Doorhanger Distributed on November 4, 2012.

Our latest effort was teaming up with QARI (Quincy Asian Resources, Inc.) to part-take in a first-of-its-kind, door-to-door voting campaign in the city of Quincy.  The campaign, "Get Out the Vote" aimed to encourage Asian Americans to actively participate in the great democratic system on which the country was founded.  With the slogan "Your Vote, Your Power", we hoped to remind residents that voting can effect change.  

 

On Sunday, November 4th, 60 volunteers visited towns and residential areas with high concentration of Asian registered voters to hang on the door in English & Chinese leaflets to encourage people to cast their ballots on November 6, 2012.  It would also be the first time that bi-lingual (English and Chinese) ballots are used in the city of Quincy to accommodate Chinese speaking voters, and also to drive voter turnout in a city heavily populated by the group that has historically shunned away from the polling stations.
 

Organizers and volunteers gather for group picture at South Cove Community Health Center's new 88 Holmes Street Clinic.

QARI Project Manager David Zou described the months-long campaign as a 3-step process:

1.    Recruited/ registered new Asian voters (QARI registered 203 new voters in about 3 months time period).

2.    Conducted two bi-lingual phone calls to the registered Asian voters; one prior to the door-to-door visit on Sunday, November 4th, for outreach & educational purpose and second one on the next day of the visit, on November 5th, as a courtesy reminder call.

3.    Mobilized volunteers for the door-to-door visit that distributed about 7,000 bi-lingual doorhangers.

 

Organizers were glad to see that for this election, Quincy Asian voter registration has increased to nearly 12,000, compared to 5,875 in 2008.  This was very encouraging, which also showed that the first step of the campaign was yielding positive results.

 

Eugene Welch participates in the campaign.

South Cove's Eugene Welch stressed the importance of coming out to vote not only as a way to exercise one's right but also to participate as a member of the community to make an impact.  He encourages those eligible to vote to do so for the aforementioned reasons.  South Cove, being in the community, has the responsibility to educate new citizens about the voting process, stated Eugene.

 

At the time of this writing, QARI has been able to examine data made available by the City of Quincy and provided an estimate of the Asian voter turnout for Election 2012.  It shows an increase in the number of Asian voters this year compared to 2008 at 4,450 and 2,654, respectively.  However, the percentage of VEP (voting eligible population) decreased to 37.08% from the 43.64% in 2008.  This is attributable to the dramatic increase in registered voters but not a proportional increase in the number that actually voted.     

We were very encouraged by the increase in the number of Asian voters that participated in Election 2012, despite the fact that it represented a drop in percentage. We are optimistic that the campaign would yield longer-lasting effect: that the registered voters, even if they did not vote in this year's election, would consider voting in future primaries/elections.  The secondary goal was to reach out to the young people and instill in them the importance of taking part in the system to advocate for & support issues and causes important to them.  Volunteers who helped distribute the doorhangers were mostly high school students, although not yet of voting age, they were the perfect candidates to reach out to to improve voter turnout in the long run.    

 

Lyle Scruggs, a political scientist at the University of Connecticut, agrees and said in an article "Why 40% of Americans Won't Vote for President" (by Tia Ghose, LiveScience.com,  Mon, Nov 5, 2012) that the "The best hope for changing turnout long-term is to get young people voting...If teenagers get used to casting ballots from the get-go, they are likelier to become lifelong voters" because "voting is sort of a habit."  

 

We know that the work has only just begun. Both South Cove and QARI vow to continue the effort of reaching out to Asian Americans in Quincy in regards to voting.

 

Eugene and South Cove thank our long-time partner QARI and Executive Director John Brothers, as well as all the volunteers for the tremendous effort in the planning, organization and the execution of this campaign of great significance! 

 

Funding for the campaign was made possible through a grant by the AAPCHO (Asian American Pacific Community Health Organizations). 

 

About QARI

Quincy Asian Resources, Inc.'s (QARI) mission is to foster and improve the social, cultural, economic and civic lives of Asian Americans and their families to benefit Quincy and its neighboring communities.

 

About AAPCHO

AAPCHO is dedicated to promoting advocacy, collaboration, and leadership that improve the health status and access of AA & NHOPIs within the United States, its territories, and freely associated states, primarily through member CHCs.

 

South Cove Manor Nursing Breaking Ground on its New Quincy Facility

South Cove Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center broke ground on Wednesday, November 28, 2012 on a new state-of-the-art facility in Quincy.  The project represents a major expansion to meet the increase in demand and services. The expansion will move the 27-year old organization from its current location in Boston Chinatown to a new site at 290 Washington Street in Quincy.

 

South Cove Community Health Center's Eugene Welch, Eric Tiberi and Board member April Tang were among the many guests that joined South Cove Manor at this historic event.

 

Though not affiliated, South Cove Community Health Center and South Cove Manor have been good neighbors supporting each other's cause for a long time.  While we will certainly miss their presence in Chinatown, we open our arms and welcome them to be our neighbor in Quincy where South Cove operates two clinics adjacent to each other.  We are excited for the nursing facility's relocation and expansion and look forward to greater partnership in the future!

 

Equally excited was Mayor Thomas Koch of Quincy.  Speaking at the Groundbreaking Ceremony, he said "South Cove Manor has built an unparalleled reputation for care and service, and we are proud that it sought Quincy for its new state-of-the-art home. Projects like this that create construction jobs, permanent jobs, and improve neighborhoods are happening across our City and we will continue to do everything in our power to help make them a reality."

 

South Cove Manor CEO, Richard Wong, also spoke and explained that a relocation had been imminent because the "mission and commitment to providing elders with the highest possible quality of care necessitates a larger, state-of-the-art building that can house more residents and also accommodate a wider range of rehabilitation services and activities." He was "very excited about the plans for the new facility, which will offer enhanced amenities such as more single rooms, pleasant common areas, and indoor courtyards for dining, gathering and relaxing."

 

Joining Mayor Koch and CEO Wong with the shovels were John Auerbach, former DPH Commissioner and currently the Director of the Urban Health Research Institute at Northeastern University; South Cove Manor Board Chair Richard Lui; State Senator John Keenan; Quincy Ward 1 Councillor Margaret LaForest; Andy Epstein, Department of Public Health; Benny Wong, MassDevelopment; Angus Leary, Suffolk Construction; Wayne Patenaude, Cambridge Savings Bank; Peter Sargent, Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation and Phil Dowds, Levi & Wong Architects.

 

South Cove Manor Breaking Ground on its New Quincy Facility.

The project is expected to be completed in early 2014. South Cove Manor's new home will be a 3-story building providing 87,000 square feet of usable space that will feature 141 beds, common areas on every floor, expanded rehabilitation space, parking as well as attractive landscape and gardens.

 

About South Cove Manor

Established in 1985, South Cove Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center is the premier nursing and rehabilitation home in the region dedicated to serving the needs of the Asian community.  South Cove Manor's mission is to provide exceptional care in a cultural environment that is familiar, stimulating and fun for Asian elders.  

   

I am pleased to announce that we are finally on our last phase with construction and remodeling of our Quincy facilities.With a lot of hard work, the staff has moved into 88 Holmes Street; the Pediatrics Department, Dental Department (now with five new operatories), Optometry Department, Behavioral Health Department, and Ob/Gyn Department, with a pod with four specialty rooms and space to expand in the future. 

88 Holmes Street Clinic Front Desk Area. L: patient checks in; R: staff members feel at home in the new clinic.

This now allowed us to reorganize 435 Hancock Street and the Adult Medicine Department will now occupy ten exam rooms with five intake rooms, a phlebotomy and wave-testing lab, and finally , the new 340B pharmacy for South Cove patients only.  This pharmacy will be approximately 1,000 square feet, opened all the hours that the clinic is opened, staffed by culturally and linguistically-competent pharmacists and staff to deal directly with patients in a language that best serves them.

In both locations, 435 Hancock Street, and 88 Holmes Street, we will have Social Services representatives available to assists patients in translating any medical applications that are required.  This has been a long, but rewarding journey, and "all I can do is thank the Board and staff for having trust and vision to finish this project," expressed Eugene Welch. 

Last but not least, it is the end of the year but also the beginning of another, as we close out the year of the Dragon, let's also look forward to year 2013, the year of the Snake. 

 

As many might know, the Dragon is the most revered and esteemed sign of all in the cycle of 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac.  The animal, 6th in the cycle, that follows has pretty big shoes to fill.  So, most might think that a Snake would not fit the bill, and they would be right!  However, the Snake has always been dubbed "the little dragon", while it will never match a Dragon in its desirability for Chinese parents (the health center saw a dramatic increase in number of births in 2012), it is a good sign to be born under in the zodiac.

 

Ancient Chinese beleif is that a snake in the house is a good omen for it would ensure that the family would not starve. Some of the adjectives used to describe a Snake are: wise, powerful, intuitive, influential, insightful and intelligent. Snakes are known to be deep thinkers that tend to be quite private and say very little.  They reveal their true self only to the ones closest to them. They are driven by materialistic things, and often regarded to have expensive taste that is reflected in how their homes are decorated and furnished.  As with everything, there are virtues and there are shortcomings; Snakes can be manipulative, conniving, vain, and when it comes to relationships, they tend to be possessive.

 

As we welcome the Year of the Snake, we are also looking forward to (hopefully) just as many Snake babies as there were Dragon babies!