Helping Hands to Love Banks.docVIP

Helping Hands to Love Banks 　　INNOVATIVE community servicesare making aging in China lessdaunting.Services for the elderlytop the publie agenda of Dong-gaodi and many similar communities inChinas reban centers,where organizersand participants have not only createdthoughtful programs but proven quitecreative about the nature of elder care intheir precincts.Outreach programs suchas love banks and specialty volunteerserwices are blossoming. 　　The sub-district of Donggaodi in Bei-jing is,like many others,caring for an ev-er-growing and increasingly needy agedpopulation.Of Donggaodis 5o,865 resi-dents,29.6 percent are seniors over 6oand nearly 7 percent are aged above 8o.Multiple levels of government contributeto the social security system: a regularallowance frmn the city for the elderlywithout pensions,and a subsidy fromthe local sub-district office for needy andelderly residents; community service sta-tions provide material aid,companionservices,house cleaning,emergency re-sponse and other kinds of payment-freecare.What makes Donggaodi and severalother subdistricts worth noting are thedistinctive voluntary services they haveorganized for their residents.Its neigh-borly and accessible community serviceoutlets,and the programs run throughthem are an emergent model for commu-nity outreach. 　　Yang Zhixian is 84 and has no retire-ment pension.She lives alone in her tinyapartment in the Donggaodi commnunity,Fengtai District,Beijing,but is alwaysseen with a smile lighting up her face.Ihave many daughters; those girls work-ing at the community serrice station areall my daughters, Yang says proudly.Their mother has seen many misfor-tunes in her life.Several years ago,herhusband passed away,leaving her with-out any regular income.Her only son,a6e-year-old retiree who was handicappedby a childhood illness and lost his jobwhen his factory closed a decade ago,ishard pressed to provide his elderly par-ent with financial support or even helparound the house.The girls include