People – Passion – Professionalism: Staff experiences during the pandemic

Sophia Cheng,  Licensed Vocational Nurse Case Manager, Senior Services

What do you like best about your job? 

I get pleasure from helping others no matter how difficult their situation is. What gives me the most encouragement is the knowledge that progress is being made toward ending this health crisis.

What was it like working at CSA this past year during the pandemic? How did your job change? How did you flex, pivot and stretch to meet increasing client and/or agency need?

When the shelter in place began, many people lost their jobs such as those who worked in restaurants, gyms and indoor businesses. So many residents were feeling significant levels of stress due to financial difficulty and fear of contracting COVID-19. Thanks to the city of Mountain View’s Rental Relief Program and other funders, we were able to help residents pay their rent. I joined the Rental Assistance team temporarily to assist with the influx.

Was there a seminal moment/incident during this past year when you realized just how much the pandemic is/was impacting your clients and/or workload?

There were moments that gave me a sense of appreciation and clearly showed me both the goodness in people and the challenging nature of our circumstances, which were that many landlords were willing to give an extension on rent payments. This made all the difference in the world for our clients, and it made my workload easier because I was able to give them reassurance.