With the painful memory still vividly etched in her mind, 75-year-old Mabel Yuen achingly recalled facing aging and loneliness during one of the most isolating periods in recent history: the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her husband had been dead for 33 years and she had retired early due to an injured shoulder and needed surgery. During the pandemic, Yuen couldn’t go out with people and did not get to see her children often since they lived far away. She also couldn’t travel, which was one of her favorite activities.
“At that time, I had a surgery during COVID and then I tried to get help from people,” said the Cupertino resident. “I called people. I knocked the door for a neighbor, none of them responded because of COVID. People (were) scared of me.”
From left, Claudia Hau, 80, of Fremont, listens as Mabel Yuen, 75, of Cupertino, talks about the benefits of the Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI) senior center in San Jose, California, on Tuesday, October 21, 2025. The AACI senior center offers senior wellness programs as well as other classes, activities, and lunches provided during the week. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)After speaking with a Christian counselor, she called Eunice Cheng, Senior Wellness Program manager with Asian Americans for Community Involvement, a nonprofit that provides health services, like primary care, dental and mental health help, and programming that promotes a healthy life.
It turned out to be a godsend.
Yuen said Cheng got her involved in the nonprofit, delivering her hot meals and talking to her on the phone like a counselor when she felt alone.
“We do not charge them money. We know they are immigrants. We try to make (it) easy (for them) to receive information, to communicate in (their) language, support them, providing all these cultural celebrations they might be missing,” Cheng said.
From left, Su Xiu Wei, is helped by Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI) program manager of Senior Wellness Program Eunice Cheng, and Program Specialist Cindy Liu at the AACI senior center in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. The AACI senior center offers senior wellness programs as well as other classes, activities, and lunches provided during the week. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)With donations to Wish Book, the nonprofit can help serve even more people and continue its efforts.
The organization was formed by a dozen Asian Americans in 1973 who wanted to support Southeast Asian refugees who were resettling after the Vietnam War. The Senior Wellness Program was established a year after AACI’s formation and now serves over 900 older adults who have low incomes, recently immigrated to the U.S. or speak little English. It has been around for 50 years, offering culturally responsive fitness classes, educational workshops like computer literacy programs and hot, nutritious meals. They also provide multilingual resources and host cultural events.
Yuen said Cheng encouraged her at the time to join AACI’s online senior activities. One of the classes was Armchair Travel, which was taught by ESL instructor Gracia Del Rosario.
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