BCNC Spotlight Stories, sponsored by State Street, are stories about people from the BCNC family and how BCNC has impacted their lives.

“We are so lucky because we have BCNC to keep us rooted here.”
 
Helen Wong was a regular at the BCNC's Oak Street Youth Center throughout her teenage years growing up in the Boston Chinatown neighborhood.  She became involved in various aspects of BCNC by working as an assistant teacher for the Red Oak Summer Program, a peer leader at the Youth Center, and as an ESOL tutor.  BCNC was one of the first places where she was encouraged to examine Boston’s Chinatown community as well as the shared experiences of Asian American youth.  This not only shaped her high school years at Boston Latin School, but also informed her decision to major in Urban Studies at Wellesley College with a focus on the struggles of Boston Chinatown against institutional development.
 
Looking back at her time at BCNC, Helen highlighted the invaluable emotional support that she found from peers and staff members.  She quickly connected with Elaine Ng, who now serves as the Executive Director of BCNC.  “Elaine was a loving, caring and empowering older sister, who encouraged me to get involved with community events and go to the Youth Center.”  As the oldest of four girls, finding a mentor and ally had a huge impact on Helen’s high school years.  “Because my parents worked so much, I needed strong role models and people I could trust and go to and ask for help,” said Helen.  Elaine also catalyzed Helen’s interest in active citizenship.  Helen got involved with the Coalition for Asian Pacific American Youth (CAPAY), and became the Chinatown representative on the Mayor’s Youth Council.  Being a leader transferred to many facets of her life.  Helen commented, “It really helped me to be more confident, and this applied to school as well.  I spoke up and raised my hand much more often.”
 
Helen also became a Peer Leader at the Youth Center, thanks to the support of Rachel Sing, who was another key figure in her life.  Rachel was the Youth Center’s director at the time and she encouraged Helen to join a two-year-long research project about how to develop self-confidence among young Asian American women.  Helen and her peers shared their personal stories and collected data through surveys.  One of their solutions was a workshop on health issues for young women, because she found that a lot of Asian American families feel uncomfortable talking about issues like puberty, especially with girls.  During her senior year in high school, Rachel also encouraged Helen to apply to Wellesley College, which is now both of their alma mater.
 
In addition, Helen credited BCNC for helping Asian American youth develop confidence by learning to strike a balance between their parents’ values and those of American culture.  “For the most part, Asian American families are kind of conservative, and American culture emphasizes independence and speaking your mind.  That is why BCNC is so great – they understand those differences and help you to navigate those two worlds.”  As a result, Helen said, “a lot of kids that come to BCNC feel comfortable being Asian American.”
 
Fifteen years after she first walked through BCNC’s doors, she is still closely connected to the community.  Helen serves as the Democratic Election Commissioner for the City of Boston, and does a lot of community outreach, voter registration drives, and poll worker recruitment and trainings.  She’s used BCNC space for trainings and still keeps in constant contact with Elaine and other BCNC staff members.  She recently married Dean Chin, who first got involved with BCNC through volunteering for the Oak Street Fair with the National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP).  Helen remembers embarrassedly denying Elaine’s suggestion that she and Dean would be a good fit for one another.  Now, she concedes that Elaine was right.  Dean currently serves as a BCNC board member and Program Committee Chair. Helen and Dean are expecting their first child (a boy) this coming fall, and Helen is excited to add a new member to the community.  “I’m hoping that when my baby is old enough, we can enroll him in Red Oak and the other programs at BCNC.”