Fresno nonprofit makes a difference by getting ‘spare change’ in the federal budget | Opinion

Five days a week, Maria Casas comes to an adult day care center in southeast Fresno. Otherwise, the elderly woman would be home by herself.

Casas particularly takes advantage of exercise classes. “Being here makes me happy,” she told a gathering of about 60 people on Monday.

She joined an event to celebrate a $1.5 million grant that Rep. Jim Costa had secured for The Fresno Center, a nonprofit that provides a range of health, employment and rental assistance services in southeast Fresno.

That may seem like a lot of money. In the context of a $6 trillion federal budget, it is barely the change hiding under the cushions of the living room couch. But to the administrators of The Fresno Center, the money is a godsend. It will go toward the Adult Day Health Care Center, a program that helps about 50 seniors a day, five days a week.

Casas comes every Monday through Friday, she said.

Another regular at the center is La Xiong Yang, who began life as an orphan in southeast Asia. Now a senior, she values the adult day care program for its caring staff.

“I find a lot of love here,” Yang said through an interpreter.

Many in the crowd Monday to celebrate the grant were seniors who had come to Fresno from southeast Asia. Teaching them that it is acceptable to use the programs of The Fresno Center is part of the challenge, said CEO/President Pao Yang.

“With $1.5 million, we can help give culturally and linguistically appropriate services,” he said. “We have to be culturally and linguistically competent.”

Mental health needs

The Fresno Center is hidden among the many shops, restaurants and car washes lining East Kings Canyon.

The day care program provides meals, snacks and transportation. There are physical, speech and occupational therapies. Clients also get counseling, a point that Costa focused on.

“One in seven adults in California suffer from some level of mental-health challenge,” he said. That score is higher in the San Joaquin Valley, he added, where there are more immigrants and refugees, to say nothing of the poverty that has afflicted the region for decades. All of the clients helped by The Fresno Center are low income, Costa noted.

Pao Yang spoke to the mental health need when he shared a story from the past year.

One day a man was walking by The Fresno Center office when, without warning, he kicked out a glass window.

Pao Yang said police were called, and once they detained the man, he asked why the guy shattered with window. The man’s answer: He heard someone inside crying and he wanted to help. Of course, the man was mistaken. No one had been crying.

“It’s OK not to be normal, for what is normal?” Pao Yang asked.

“We are trying to hard to do something very important to address the mental health crisis in America today,” said Costa. He noted the Chinese Lunar New Year mass shooting that had occurred over the weekend in a Los Angeles suburb as a tragic example of the crisis.

Making a difference

Monday’s announcement event was held outdoors in the center’s parking lot on a sunny winter morning. After weeks of gray, rainy skies, the sunshine added to the positive vibe.

The grant that Costa secured shows the federal government at its best. He landed funding that will make a real difference to a local nonprofit that, in turn, provides key services to clients and their caregivers. The Adult Day Health Care Center lets caregivers take a much-needed break in their duties. Anyone who cares of an aging parent can attest to the importance of that relief.

As the event ended, both Maria Casas and La Xiong Yang greeted friends and staff with smiles and laughter. It was clear they felt accepted at the center. The new grant will help the adult day care operate for another year. Maria Casas will stay happy, La Xiong Yang will feel loved, and Fresno will be better for it.