Providing for San Francisco’s Youngest Residents

Performance in the classroom, strong friendships, career success, and financial independence – these all start with a stable home life. But a parent’s love alone cannot bridge the gap of income inequality or resource deprivation that many San Francisco families face. 

Named for the Cantonese “wu yee” meaning “caring for children,” Wu Yee Children’s Services was established in 1977 to combat the systemic resource injustice present within San Francisco’s Chinatown. Knock-on effects from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 had left hard-working families without a place in the convoluted American public services system.

“Many people in Chinatown worked in the sewing factories – and parents couldn’t choose their hours. They needed to work for survival. They would bring the kids to the factories because they didn’t have child care,” says Co-Founder Sai-Ling Chan-Sew.

Wu Yee Children’s Services represented a place where working parents could take their children and receive support. Today, Wu Yee has expanded to meet the diverse and evolving needs of their community. From child nutrition classes to career guidance for parents offered in Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Spanish, Arabic, and English, Wu Yee Children’s Services aims to support families from all sides.

“This is a deep outreach approach. It’s important to meet folks where they’re at,” emphasizes Director of Advancement Virginia Cheung.

Wu Yee Children’s Services’ innovative approach brings resources, referrals, and child care under one agency. Making their services available in neighborhoods such as Bayview Hunters Point, along with the Tenderloin, Mission, and southeast districts, where 40 percent of the families live below the poverty threshold, Wu Yee understands the importance of offering culturally affirming programs that help families lay roots and prosper. In fact, Wu Yee is San Francisco’s largest provider of the Early Head Start program.  

Thanks to the support of Wu Yee Children’s Services, the underserved children and young families of San Francisco have a reliable and accessible resource center. Ultimately however, the economic and racial inequality present in San Francisco is still a threat to families with young children. These children need our help to give them the start to life that they deserve.