DOCUMENTARY WORK: – chinatown baby boomers: Linda Chan, community volunteer

“I retired early, because I always work night shift, in the Lutheran Hospital. Day time I help people that don’t know English well. And my husband worried. ‘Quit the job! Don’t work!’” Since leaving her job as a certified nursing assistant, Linda Chan (at left in yellow blouse) has been focusing on her community volunteer work through the Lin Sing Association, a 105 year old Chinatown mutual aid organization where her husband, York K. Chan, had served as president in the past.And she has dedicated herself to teaching dance. You can find Linda in a different neighborhood Adult Day Care Center every single day of the week, working with local seniors. Friday afternoons are reserved for the community’s retired ladies at Lin Sing, and on beautiful days there are impromptu exercise and music sessions at either Roosevelt or Columbus Park.“One day we were in the park, and people say, ‘Hey, we have this teacher.’ They make a group, so we joined. Fifteen years! So we all know each other. Teaching came later. You have to have a loving heart to elderly people. Like with the bamboo clapper dance, I always say, ‘Right side, left side!’ and then they can remember. Because they are not young people.”
Linda Chan, community volunteer

“I retired early, because I always work night shift, in the Lutheran Hospital. Day time I help people that don’t know English well. And my husband worried. ‘Quit the job! Don’t work!’” Since leaving her job as a certified nursing assistant, Linda Chan (at left in yellow blouse) has been focusing on her community volunteer work through the Lin Sing Association, a 105 year old Chinatown mutual aid organization where her husband, York K. Chan, had served as president in the past. 

And she has dedicated herself to teaching dance. You can find Linda in a different neighborhood Adult Day Care Center every single day of the week, working with local seniors. Friday afternoons are reserved for the community’s retired ladies at Lin Sing, and on beautiful days there are impromptu exercise and music sessions at either Roosevelt or Columbus Park. 

“One day we were in the park, and people say, ‘Hey, we have this teacher.’ They make a group, so we joined. Fifteen years! So we all know each other. Teaching came later. You have to have a loving heart to elderly people. Like with the bamboo clapper dance, I always say, ‘Right side, left side!’ and then they can remember. Because they are not young people.”