Yelanda Wong, 82, was born and raised in Hong Kong. She migrated to Chicago about 40 years ago and worked in a Chicago Chinatown restaurant.

 

She is active in Chinese community in Chicago and participates in several Buddhist institutions. She used to receive her social services benefits from an Asian agency in Chinatown but wasn’t really satisfied, therefore about 15 years ago she was recommended to Chinese Mutual Aid Association (CMAA) by someone she knew.

 

She was very impressed by personalized services provided at CMAA Chinese American Service League and still today she remains a loyal client to CMAA. She has developed a friendly relationship with CMAA staff who have been around for a long time like Allen Wong and Huy Tran (Allen has served CMAA for the past 20 years and Huy has served for 35 years).

​

During a conversation with Peter Wong, a CMAA social service worker, Yelanda expressed gratitude to be part of CMAA. Yelanda said “I am so grateful that I was recommended to go to CMAA. Mr. Wong is such a nice leader and always supports and provides solutions to the low-income population with empathy, ears and patience.”

​

She also added “When Vietnamese and Chinese immigrants in South and North Chinatown ask me for recommendations for social services in Chicago, I tell them CMAA is a one-stop-shop for providing immigrant services”.