<Begin Segment 28>

SY: And you had how many children eventually, then?

YY: I had, my daughter was born in Whittier when we came back. We were living in Monte Bello, so she was born, let's see, 1949 or 1950. I can't remember. Someplace in there. [Laughs]

SY: And that, so all that time that your children were growing up, you were going to school and working, so was that a difficult period?

YY: No.

SY: It wasn't particularly hard 'cause you were having to learn all this new...

YY: Right. [Laughs] But no, I didn't find it too bad.

SY: And then getting a degree, how, what kinds of hours did you have to work and go to school? What was that...

YY: Well, it was, most, mostly it was, the traveling bothered me the most, not the going to the school or learning things.

SY: Studying.

YY: Yeah.

SY: You never had a hard time at school?

YY: No.

SY: So when you formed this organization it grew quite quickly?

YY: It went, last, the first few years I think it was going pretty good, then all of a sudden it was hard to keep, keep the people interested. Then it stalled for a while, but now I think it's really grown, all these years.

SY: So it's still around and it's a very, very big organization.

YY: Right.

SY: Do, you don't stay in touch with...

YY: No, I went to a meeting maybe two years ago, and that was about it. I haven't kept in touch with them, association hall.

SY: So what kinds of things do, over the years, what kinds of things did they do, and how did it grow? You know what it does now?

YY: Well, it's, I remember we used to take part in this, they used to have a big, I think the city put it on, where all these Asian groups got together at Echo Park, I think it was in... and then we participated in that, trying to make money so that we could keep the association going. And we did that for several years. And we always had dinners that we'd go to.

SY: Raise money that way?

YY: Right.

SY: So you were looking to raise money that whole time as well.

YY: Well, most of the time we wanted to raise money 'cause we were, money, we had newsletters and things like that, and that takes money to send it out and things like that. So we always were looking for ways to benefit our association.

SY: So were you an officer in the...

YY: Well, the first two years I was, I was vice president the first year, then next two years I was president. The first year, the fellow from, one other fellow that, he's a Korean fellow, was the president. Can't think of his name now.

SY: So you really -- but at some point, though, you decided the organization had something to do with mental health, right?

YY: No, that was one of our things, was to get Asians a mental health clinic and a regular clinic, but we succeeded because they did build a mental health clinic for Asians.

SY: So whose idea was that, the mental health clinic?

YY: I don't know, somebody that was working in mental health was... [Laughs]

SY: They were with your Asian American...

YY: Association, uh-huh.

SY: County, county workers basically. And they, so is that something that there was a need for at that time?

YY: Uh-huh.

SY: They were realizing that all the different groups needed a facility?

YY: Right. Because they needed Asian speaking people to help patients that didn't speak English.

SY: So where, what exactly did the organization have to do to make that happen?

YY: Well, we had to do a lot of lobbying.

SY: You had to raise money.

YY: Right.

SY: And this was in the '80s?

YY: Must've been, I think. Yeah.

SY: And how, so how did that happen? You actually got funding for this?

YY: Yeah. I don't know, one of the, one of the doctors, Japanese doctors, I think they had a lot to do with it too. There was a couple of Japanese doctors that, in mental health, and I think they did a lot of lobbying for it too, and that helped.

SY: So it was kind of a group effort, not just your county employees, but it was different groups got together.

YY: Right. Yeah, you have to do it that way.

SY: And that...

YY: They can't say that we were the one that did it. It was a deal that every, involved a lot of people.

SY: And did you have to get, like, were you involved in the licensing? Was that the --

YY: No, no. We just, we were just trying to get a clinic for the Asians.

SY: And you, and so do you remember exactly what your part was? Did you just, were you going to meetings?

YY: Yeah, we were all doing that all the time. But I didn't do any sort of, half as much as, or even a quarter as much as what all these other guys were doing.

SY: But spent a lot of time, right? I mean, it took a lot of time.

YY: Right.

SY: And you were still working full time and doing this.

YY: Uh-huh.

SY: So when did that clinic open? Do you remember?

YY: No, I can't remember.

SY: And is it something that's still operating?

YY: Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is.

SY: And how do you have, how do you keep it funded? Is it something that they still keep raising money for?

YY: No, I think the state is giving them the money.

SY: And the county also?

YY: Yeah, well through the county, yes.

SY: Through the county. So is that, would you consider that one of the biggest accomplishments that you, or what would you consider the biggest accomplishment that the L.A. County...

YY: Health, employees association?

SY: Uh-huh.

YY: No, I think the biggest thing is that we were able to become known that we were there by the big bosses. I think that, I think that's the way a lot of our people are being promoted now. 'Cause we have a lot of department heads in the county that are Japanese. And look at the CEO, William Fujioka, he's up there now.

SY: Was he involved at all at the time of the...

YY: No, all I remember, he was working in the, I remember meeting him because he was a friend of my, he was a son of a friend of mine. And then he became head of the hospital in, out in the Valley. I remember that. And after that I lost track of him, and then all of a sudden he's a CEO of city of L.A., then he retired and became CEO of the county.

SY: That's nice.

<End Segment 28> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.