by Kay Curry
Northwest Asia Weekly
An open house in the basement of the Bush Hotel in the 1970s (image via CISC)
From a card table on the sidewalk to a nonprofit that helps 15,000 immigrants and their families each year, the China Information and Service Center (CISC) marks 50 years of service this year. Although they have expanded with societal trends over the decades, CISC’s core mission of creating opportunities for members of immigrant communities to succeed has never changed. With passion and expertise, they continue to respond to the needs of multi-generational families in multiple languages to improve the entire King County.
“I was working at Seattle’s Pioneer Square Community Health Station…I saw a lot of new Chinese immigrants who didn’t know where to go to get checked,” recalls CISC founder John Loo, who now lives in Seattle. Hongkong. “Then, some people don’t understand English. They need help reading letters and filling them out
A form to apply for benefits. Some people don’t even know they can have benefits. So we printed a flyer promoting the All-Ren Service and started on a small scale with only volunteers. “
Early volunteers at the University of Washington in the 1970s (image via CISC)
“For 50 years of CISC’s service to the community, this has exceeded my greatest expectations,” said Liana Fong, one of the first volunteers in 1972, for the “evolving of CISC to this important milestone.” Deep dedication and vision”. . As Fong, who now lives in New York, puts it, a group of high school and college students realized the need for an organization “rooted in the community.”
“In the beginning, I would tutor old uncles and aunts, and I could understand Taishan dialect and even speak a little,” Lu recalled. “Over time, I’ve had the pleasure of being able to walk the streets of Chinatown and say hello to everyone and know their names.” He added, “It’s great to see CISC grow so much… 50th anniversary. Certainly a moment to cherish, a victory.”
Marish
Mary Hsu, who has chaired the CISC board for the past 22 years, describes the “serve the people” mentality of the 1960s and 1970s. “When John Loo pitched the idea of a service organization in Seattle’s Chinatown to our student body, some of us immediately responded with enthusiasm and active engagement,” Fong said. Initially, CISC’s focus was on older adults. As the caseload increased, CISC took the holistic approach they use today.
2018 CISC Executive Director Michael Itti in the CISC Classroom
“When a grandparent comes in and says, ‘I need to get health insurance. Help me understand my options so I can make an informed decision,’ we’ll have a conversation with them, and then we’ll also ask questions to understand their family and their experience,” explained CISC Executive Director Michael Itti. “They might say…’My grandson is going to kindergarten,’ and we’d say, ‘We have a kindergarten program at the Yesler Community Center.'”
CISC’s No Fault Door Policy makes them a trusted organization in King County. “Anyone who walks through our doors, we try to help them,” Ettie said. “If we knew a partner organization, we would recommend … we don’t want to turn anyone down and say sorry, you’ve come to the wrong place.”
CISC responds to community needs in a timely manner. During the pandemic, seniors have experienced debilitating loneliness due to the lockdown. On the east side, CISC has drawn up a plan for Russian and now Ukrainian seniors to gather. By partnering with the City of Bellevue and Amazon, they were able to expand to two days a week and provide participants with iPads.
Chen Huiling
“Older adults, when they don’t speak the language .
Chen and Xu are “lifers” (Chen worked at CISC for 33 years), but such professionals are hard to find. CISC expects that one of its biggest problems for the next 50 years will be recruitment and retention. The niche they seek – people with strict qualifications, bicultural and bilingual – is a challenge, as is the cost of living.
“Our goal is to provide a living wage to all team members who provide such an important service,” Itti said. “They are very passionate about serving our community, but we want to make sure they can thrive… The heart and soul of our institution are people who serve our community.”
Northwest Asia Weekly asked Iti, Xu and Chen what impressed them most about CISC.
“What I get is inspiration from the staff. We have such dedicated and committed staff who really care…you get a lot of establishments where people are just bureaucrats and here the staff go out of their way because they feel That connection, they’re part of the communities they serve,” said Xu.
For Chan, it’s “the change we can make, the impact on people’s lives. It can be very small or it can be huge.”
“I want to know that I’m helping other people,” said Etty, whose presence is ubiquitous in King County as CISC has moved from helping individuals develop to helping entire communities, working to increase voting and census participation, or stop anti-Asian hatred. Itti cites “pioneers” who inspired him, such as Ruth Wu and Uncle Bob.
“I’m really influenced by our community leaders…I also want to do everything I can to support the community.”
Stories continue to emerge as we discuss 50 years of community effort. This could be a story about CISC fostering self-advocacy in Asian communities that people aren’t used to or can’t speak out because they’re often from countries that prohibit civic participation.
“I was very proud when we were able to invite a group of parents to the Seattle Public School Board retreat to share their experiences,” shared Chan.
“These parents refused to attend parent-teacher conferences a few years ago,” but now, with CISC’s support, “they bravely say ‘OK, I’m going to testify.'”
Possibly a young girl in college who returned to CISC to give back, carrying on the legacy of the first volunteers.
“It really makes sense because they have become the best champions of all services,” Chen said. For Itti, walking down the hallways and seeing employees and community members interact is a joy. As the children arrived at CISC’s after-school activities, it heard their footsteps. “We are very grateful to the community that has been with us for decades,” Etty said. “Given the impact we’ve had on the pandemic and even vital services over the past few years, we’re delighted to have this institution here. If you look at any decade, we’ve always had a way to meet community needs…see what we’ve been through The journey is unbelievable.”
For information on CISC’s 50th Anniversary Celebration, visit
cisc-seattle.ejoinme.org/50thGala.
Kay can reach info@nwasianweekly.com.
