We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Christina Cheng-Patel a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Christina, thank you so much for joining us today. Let’s jump right into something we’re really interested in hearing about from you – being the only one in the room. So many of us find ourselves as the only woman in the room, the only immigrant or the only artist in the room, etc. Can you talk to us about how you have learned to be effective and successful in situations where you are the only one in the room like you?
I have a fairly typical first generation Asian-American immigrant story. My parents immigrated to the US in the 70s with absolutely nothing but a dream and a wish. Though both had higher education, they were unable to use their degrees here so they decided to open a restaurant. I recall many days of napping in the far back booth or doodling on the back side of those ubiquitous red Chinese zodiac paper placemats. As I grew older, I helped bus tables and take orders. Through my parents, I learned what hard work and a solid work ethic looks like. Their English may be broken but they provided for me and my brother wholly and completely. But all the while, the sometimes subtle and often blatant racist and hurtful comments did not go unnoticed despite us maintaining neutrality through it. I watched my parents apologize for orders that were not their mistake. I watched them swallow their pride to put food on the table for us. I watched them smile alongside patrons who, unknown to them, referred to them in derogatory ways. And this affected me in ways I didn’t even realize until I became a working adult and had my own children. The “model minority” narrative certainly rang loudly in my childhood and adult life. Remaining quiet and trying to blend into the background was insisted upon. But, when I had my own children, it became evident to me that representation is vital. I had to re-learn to conduct myself in a manner that commanded respect due to my experience, my education, and position. I came to the understanding that I represented my parent’s dream and that my background is something I should be able to highlight and represent with pride…in all aspects of my life…professionally in my career, as a parent, and in my outreach work and everything in between.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
When my boys and I started our nonprofit, Under My Umbrella, I wanted to make sure I was intentional in incorporating aspects of my background into it. Being able to share my heritage with those we serve has been a privilege and a responsibility that I don’t take lightly. This past Lunar New Year, we served eggrolls and my boys passed out Lunar New Year good luck cards and candies. Many of the unsheltered communities we serve don’t often have the opportunity to experience the Lunar New Year and it was absolutely beautiful to be able to share this with our friends. When we first started serving sweet teas or Thai teas or Japanese style egg sandos, many of our unhoused friends had never had those drinks or foods before. But they were open to trying something new and now many look forward to our visits. I am extremely proud that a majority of our community partners are women/Asian owned /minority owned small businesses. I am equally proud that our individual supporters and donors are from diverse backgrounds including all ages and careers and about any category you can think of. Because diversity is our strength and something that should be celebrated.
We currently have 3 programs.
1. Our Neighbor Outreach program serves 50-100 of our unsheltered each and every week. And I do mean every week rain or snow or hail or 110 degrees. This is Texas afterall.
2. Our Holiday Outreach program that provides mini Christmas trees as well as menorahs to seniors, children, and our unsheltered will be in our 9th year this year. Ever since we learned about a Jewish family at the shelter we serve 2 years ago, we began incorporating menorahs into this program. We are always open to learning and growing and were so grateful that this was brought to our attention so that we can better serve more people.
3. Our Rainy Day fund aims to fill in the gaps for small but urgent needs such as a car repair or a family who needs a hotel while waiting for room at a shelter.
We are very excited to start a 4th program we have yet to name. On 6/17, we hosted our first free youth basketball mini camp. We hope to grow this program and help provide equitable access to sports, music, and the arts to children in underserved areas.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Education, Empathy and Experience.
-Education: I am grateful for my academic background because it has helped me set up the framework to grow my nonprofit. My business background has helped me understand how to best support my nonprofit. Though we have not been around for a year yet, we have been able to secure partnerships that have allowed us to not only sustain our own programs but to assist other small NPOs as well. My science/nursing background has helped me figure out ways to serve safely and to troubleshoot. It was especially crucial when we served during COVID. My psychology background has provided me with the tools to deal with a diverse population and to navigate the sometimes difficult situations that arise during outreach. No education no matter what field is ever wasted. And when you least expect it, that knowledge will be exactly what you need to get you from one moment to the next successfully.
-Empathy: This is the core of everything. We cannot possibly help people if we sit in the position of “Well, my parents made it. I made it. So why can’t you?” That’s not to say that our journey was not difficult but it isn’t the same as someone else’s journey. Everyone’s journey is unique and everyone’s story is different. I believe that everyone should be able to tell their story on their own terms in their own time. Or not tell it at all if that is their wish. Empathy like love has to be unconditional.
-Experience: Now this is the one that I feel really impacts the journey. We can’t be afraid to try new things. Do new things. Experience new things. This is how we learn and adapt and grow and also how we secure that empathy that is so important. I always say that I take rejection super well. I’m not afraid to try new things or ask for support. If the answer is no, totally fine. If what I try doesn’t pan out, I’ll pivot and try something else. Chalk it up to experience, be grateful for the lesson, and keep pushing forward.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
We are a very small grassroots initiative. We have zero operating budget and are based out of my living room and garage so for us, collaborations are key. Under My Umbrella collaborates with several amazing small nonprofits as well as larger businesses and it’s those relationships and sharing of resources that allows us all to cover so many people. For example, during a distribution, a sister nonprofit had an overflow of crackers. She gave those crackers to another sister nonprofit. That sister nonprofit gave us some cases of tuna. I gave some t-shirts to the sister nonprofit with the crackers. Since we serve different populations at different times, this sharing allows us to all better serve more people more efficiently than if each of us was trying to do this on our own.
If you are an individual, a business, a nonprofit, a group, etc. who would like to get involved, please contact us! (Email: UnderMyUmbrellaDFW@gmail.com.) We would love to collaborate with you!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.under-my-umbrella.org
- Instagram: under_my_umbrella_dfw
- Facebook: UnderMyUmbrellaDFW
