NYCEAL article spotlights SACSS’ response to COVID-19 pandemic 

The COVID-19 pandemic has been particularly devastating for groups like the Asian American community in the United States, which experienced high rates of COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and mortality. 

A recent article published in Health Equity by the NYCEAL team highlights how community-based organizations (CBOs), such as SACSS, played a vital role in supporting Asian American communities throughout the pandemic by providing critical and culturally adapted resources and programming on COVID-19 infection, prevention, and control. 

The team’s research shows that CBOs serve as trusted liaisons, connecting socially and linguistically isolated community members to care during public health emergencies. The team spotlights SACSS as one such example of a CBO that became an essential lifeline for many community members who got sick, or lost loved ones and/or their livelihoods. It highlights how SACSS’ weekly food pantry, the first and only dedicated South Asian food pantry in NYC, provided deliveries of prepared, culturally appropriate meals and groceries to community members in need. 

The team documented that SACSS fed an estimated 5,000 individuals per week in 2020, and assisted more than 30,000 community members struggling with meeting their essential needs during that time. They spotlighted SACSS’ efforts to create virtual spaces during lockdowns for social engagement and connection, including live cooking shows, and hosted well-attended mental health panels in which community members shared experiences and strategies for coping with pandemic-triggered grief, anxiety, despair, and trauma.

The article states that CBOs like SACSS, the Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York (KCS), and others “played an essential role during the pandemic, as community advocates engaging historically disenfranchised communities, improving information-sharing, and helping community members to navigate the healthcare systems…” and that “bolstering the current infrastructure to support CBOs is necessary to facilitate immediate responses to serve community needs.”

We couldn’t agree more!

Read the full article here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8985534/