Oakland, CA (August 20, 2018) –Justice in Aging is proud to announce that the Asian American and Pacific Islander Community of AARP has honored Justice in Aging attorney Denny Chan with its annual Hero Award.
Every year, for the past three years, the AARP AAPI Hero Awards have recognized volunteers and non-profit organization staff members who work tirelessly behind the scenes serving Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders over 50 years of age. The award was announced on Facebook on August 16. You can watch the winning video about Denny’s good work on behalf of low-income older adults.
“It’s a tremendous honor to receive this award. My own grandmother serves as an inspiration to me for the advocacy work we do, so this award recognizing service of AAPI older adults is heartfelt and personal,” said Denny.
Denny joined Justice in Aging in 2014 in our Los Angeles, CA office. Denny is a member of Justice in Aging’s health team and his major focus is the population of seniors who are dually eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. Among other projects, he works to ensure meaningful language access for LEP seniors in their healthcare. He also helps seniors and their advocates fight improper billing and educates providers on the law around billing practices. During law school Denny founded APALSA (Asian Pacific American Law Students Association) to focus on issues facing Asian American communities. After graduating from UC Irvine School of Law, Denny has committed his career to social justice as a public interest attorney.
As part of the contest, AARP encourages people to leave comments on the Facebook video for each finalist. Below are comments from a few advocates about Denny’s work on behalf of seniors.
“Thank you Denny for always being there to not only fight senior poverty but to educate advocates in the field to carry on in that fight. Without you many of us would be without the tools we need to serve our clients.” Lydia Bouroumand
“The traditional health care system does not adequately consider the social and cultural needs of patients as a regular part of care, and these social determinants of health including access to care have an overwhelming impact on the health and well-being of older adults. The work that Denny Chan and Justice in Aging are doing to address these gaps and barriers for AAPI seniors are pushing the health care system to be more sensitive to patient-specific needs and that makes the system better for everyone.” Clare Wrobel
“The issues that Denny and Justice in Aging tackle are so important to our communities! The focus on culturally and linguistically relevant health care is key step to all older adults being able to age with dignity.” Weiyu Zhang
Justice in Aging is a national non-profit legal advocacy organization that fights senior poverty through law. Formerly the National Senior Citizens Law Center, since 1972 we’ve worked for access to affordable health care and economic security for older adults with limited resources, focusing especially on populations that have traditionally lacked legal protection such as women, people of color, LGBT individuals, and people with limited English proficiency. Through targeted advocacy, litigation, and the trainings and resources we provide to local advocates, we ensure access to the social safety net programs that poor seniors depend on, including Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). For more information, visit our website at www.justiceinaging.org.
Contact: Vanessa Barrington
510-256-1200 direct
vbarrington@justiceinaging.org
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