Meals and funerals
Fang was elected borough chief in 1998, and has now served for more than 20 years. When he first ran for office, he was at home recuperating from an injury and using his free time to help elderly neighbors apply for allowances offered to low-income seniors. “Seeing the plight of so many elderly, seeing so much need, is what really pushed me to run for borough chief…. My mother passed away when I was young, and it was neighbors who took care of me growing up. Now, when I see people in need, I figure I can help….”
But just because help is offered doesn’t mean it’s accepted. Fang says that you have to first build trust. Seniors who live alone tend to be suspicious of other people’s motives. Fang’s solution was to do everything himself, even handling funeral arrangements. “Why do I arrange funerals for seniors who have died? The biggest reason is that I want the elderly in the community to trust me, and to let them know that their borough chief will be with them to the end, no matter what.”
But how could Fang help community seniors in more immediate and practical ways? After seeking advice from the Heping Branch of Taipei City Hospital, he started a meal program for Nanjichang’s elderly in 2002. “Zhongqin Borough offers three types of meal service…. We can deliver meals; seniors can pick them up for themselves; or they can enjoy a group meal at the community center.”
“We began with food, but providing care beyond that has been crucial.” Fang says that meals are about more than full bellies. Shared meals are important because they get seniors out of their homes. Interacting with the neighborhood helps them maintain social contact and also makes it easier for the local care center to keep an eye on them.
These days, Fang’s program prepares more than 300 boxed meals a day, but government support for the program’s costs is limited. “If the government only provides support for the cost of 40 senior meals, do I tell the 41st person that they can’t eat?” he asks. “The Department of Social Welfare says it can’t provide financial assistance, that we don’t meet its criteria. So, forget it. I’ll do it. I’ll handle it.” As Fang often remarks, “Providing a group meal for just one day is holding an event. Providing it for five days, that’s caring for people.”
Many care centers check and track seniors’ blood pressure, but Fang goes further by sharing the blood-pressure figures with seniors’ children, too. “Taking seniors’ blood pressure doesn’t keep seniors healthy. What we do is send the figures to their children, which encourages their children to become actively involved. That’s the real key to keeping seniors healthy.”
Having seen children give up on education or be led astray because of dysfunction in community households, Fang set up after-school programs to provide support to struggling elementary- and middle-school-aged kids. He also stopped using the term “juvenile delinquent” to describe troubled young people, and steered some of them towards barista certifications. Encouraging mastery of a trade by which these kids can earn a living gives them a second chance at a successful life.
Once a model government housing project, Nanjichang is now home to large numbers of elderly and disadvantaged people, and cluttered with illegal additions to buildings.