ARTESIA, Calif. — It takes time to build trust. Eighty-year-old Kartar Singh and his wife Naginder David are getting their first COVID-19 vaccine doses after turning them down several times.
Singh and his wife moved to the United States in 2003 and settled in Little India. The couple hasn’t left the house very often in the last 10 months, let alone step foot outside Artesia.
On Tuesday, Singh and David traveled to the Korean Community Service’s health clinic in Anaheim to receive their first COVID-19 vaccine doses at a pop-up clinic organized by the clinic and South Asian Network. The nonprofit organization has been supporting the South Asian community since 1990 by a group of activists and volunteers gathered in a living room to address the needs of a rapidly growing community.
Over the past 30 years, the network has grown to be a fully staffed agency with multilingual staff, representing four South Asian countries and various faith traditions. SAN has built trust in its community, continuing to provide support to those who often have no place else to turn.
Some of SAN’s current services include, but are not limited to:
- Covered CA and MediCAL enrollment
- Assistance with applying for public benefits
- Case management support for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking
- U.S. Citizenship application assistance
- Nonpartisan voter engagement
- COVID-19 Relief
The couple is following Shikha Bhatnagar and her team at the network’s advice in getting the vaccine. Bhatnagar leads the team as an executive director.
“What SAN is able to do is provide holistic support to our community members that is both culturally and linguistically specific, and this is [the] support that these community members cannot find anywhere else,” Bhatnagar said.
The executive director joined the network after working in international affairs for 20 years. Bhatnagar comes from a working-class immigrant family in Southern Nevada.
“I’m really driven by my own values and commitments to making a difference and leaving a legacy for myself and the community. I know the South Asian community needs a lot of resources,” Bhatnagar said.
For months leading up to this clinic, the network has been translating informational materials disseminated by Los Angeles and Orange counties into different South Asian languages, including Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Nepali, and Bangla. While some groups within the community are affluent and doing well financially, SAN’s clients are often low-income, new immigrants, or people with limited English proficiency.
“They are struggling, both with COVID and understanding how to manage this pandemic, but when they do hear about vaccines and other resources, they don’t know where to access them,” Bhatnagar said.
Singh and his wife live within walking distance to SAN’s office in Artesia. The team helps them weekly by interpreting their mail, scheduling doctor visits, and most recently getting them vaccinated. Bhatnagar said there’s a lot of mistrust in the community because there’s a language barrier.
“It affects not only access to materials and information about how to take care of yourself in this pandemic. It determines if someone is able to find a job or apply for health insurance. It impacts where somebody feels safe in this country and feels a sense of belonging,” Bhatnagar said.
Ten years ago, Singh and his wife started going to the community center. Without any relatives nearby who can help them, the couple said they wouldn’t move away from the Little India Community because that’s where they’ve built their trust.
For more information, visit: southasiannetwork.org.