Snow was falling outside November 12 across Cincinnati, but the inside of the Mason Municipal Center was filled with warmth, sharing, caring, and celebration. Orchestrating peers from multiple schools and volunteers was Vivian Xu, Indian Hill High School student and founder of EMBRACE (Empowering & Mobilizing Better Resilient Asian Community Engagement). The organization’s mission is to improve the well-being of senior Asian immigrants in the United States by bridging local resources and building a welcoming and supportive community.
“My journey with EMBRACE began 15 months ago while doing AP Research,” said Xu. “I thought about my grandparents, who left their familiar lifestyles and friends in China to immigrate to the U.S. to live near us. Not knowing English, failing driving tests, and having no friends, their dilemmas motivated me to examine the plight of elderly Asian Americans.”
During her AP Research course at Indian Hill High School, Xu reviewed 30 journals and conducted an online survey with more than 100 senior Asian immigrants in Cincinnati. She said her research uncovered the top three barriers for the participants were language, lack of social activities, and lack of mobility. Additionally, she found health care to be the most prominent concern among seniors.
“To turn insight into action, I built a youth team called EMBRACE to tackle challenges faced by senior Asian immigrants through Four Pillars of Action: social activity, language, health care, and mobility,” Xu explained.
Xu is not the only student at Indian Hill High School who has been inspired to start a nonprofit organization. Another organization, BEST (Better Education for Stronger Teeth) aims to improve the oral health habits of children around the globe. Xu said both EMBRACE and BEST, which was founded in 2017 by then sophomore Diana Yue, benefited from the AP Research course at Indian Hill High School. Xu said both students took the opportunity to research the underserved populations they cared for, and the insights from their data-based research helped shape the teams’ visions and strategies and became valuable assets to the organizations.
“Since my childhood, the frequent interactions with my grandparents and my friends’ grandparents taught me the Asian values of respect, kindheartedness, hard work, and integrity,” said Xu. “For the two years I lived in Beijing, China, with my grandparents, they helped me adapt to the new environment, introduced me to Chinese culture in every detail, and helped me grow and appreciate my heritage. I am now responsible for using my bi-cultural background to help my grandparents and other senior immigrants adapt to their lives in the United States.”
The November event was the third gathering hosted by EMBRACE to serve senior Asian immigrants in Cincinnati. For that event, EMBRACE partnered with BEST, packed 40 bags of oral care products to distribute, and made food to share. The event, attended by 50 seniors and volunteers, included a guest speaker from P&G on “Oral Health and Whole Body Health” and a mini lesson on “Grandparents Learning English” by EMBRACE members.
Xu said EMBRACE is committed to driving sustainable change to improve the well-being of senior Asian immigrants. The team convenes weekly to plan activities based on the Four Pillars of Action to create a better-engaged community. EMBRACE also has a board of advisors consisting of Asian American leaders from various nonprofit organizations who provide the team with advice and connections.
“Our passion has influenced and attracted more youths from different schools to join the effort across the U.S. to Canada,” said Xu. “Together, the EMBRACE team is driving positive change and building a more inclusive and diverse community for all races and ages.”
Photo caption: EMBRACE and BEST volunteers gathered November 12, 2022 at the Mason Municipal Center to build community within the unique student-created nonprofit organizations.