our staff
Beverly Ho
何盈欣
OPERATIONS MANAGER
sHe/her
Beverly is a 2nd generation Han Chinese settler who grew up on Coast Salish lands. Her parents are from Guangzhou and Shanghai, with ancestral roots nearby. Her dad’s family first settled in the Chinatown community in the early ‘70s, running Fung’s Grocery on the corner of Georgia and Jackson. She has a background in the arts and community organizing against gentrification and the ongoing poisoned drug supply crisis in Chinatown and the Downtown Eastside. Beverly enjoys crocheting and most hands-on activities, and is excited to continue to bring together different and intersecting marginalized communities like elders, sex workers, QTBIPOC, and people who use drugs together through her new role at Yarrow.
celyne
祁皓而
Food PROGRAMs Coordinator
sHe/HER
Celyne is a queer Cantonese settler born on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. She moved to Hong Kong with her family at the age of 4 and moved back to Vancouver when she was 9 years old. She continues to carry deep sentiments of these two places and often questions what it means to call a city home. She cares about food security in Chinatown and the Downtown Eastside, and wants to continue to support low-income seniors as the neighbourhood faces ongoing gentrification. Celyne holds a BA in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies from SFU. Being part Han Chinese and part Indian, she understands the complexity of identity and uses this understanding to navigate her queerness through poetry. She also enjoys writing short stories in Chinese that explore different themes.
Carina Xu
許月瑶
chinese seniors hub coordinator
she/they
Carina Xu (she/they) is an immigrant settler living and working on the unceded ancestral territories of the Coast Salish peoples of səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. They are a researcher that investigates what mapping racial capitalism does to the body, and what it can do for those affected by settler-colonial renderings of property ownership and the ‘proper.’ They are learning alongside the displaced, diasporic, and racialized among communities in the DTES to build trauma-informed practices and to support low-income Chinese seniors against further dispossession. As a homesick Cantonese/Mandarin speaker, they are grateful for the cute Chinatown grandma and uncle moments at work. Before joining Yarrow’s youths for seniors, Carina has worked for DOXA Documentary Film Festival and The Cinematheque in communications and education roles.
sean cao
曹碩
chinese seniors hub coordinator
He/Him
Sean Cao is an immigrant settler from China and currently resides on Coast Salish lands. He comes to this work with a background in translation and arts & culture, particularly with a focus on community engagement. Sean is always reminded of the importance of collaborative efforts and mutual aid from the inspiring people of Chinatown and the Downtown Eastside he has met. Therefore, he believes in teamwork and collaboration in building a sustainable and anti-oppressive ecosystem that addresses service gaps and provides benefits for all in the neighbourhood. In his free time, you will find him grocery shopping, strolling and eating in Chinatown.
jenny liao
廖正怡
volunteer & community engagement Coordinator
she/her
Jenny is a second generation immigrant and settler that was born and raised on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples. Being both a minority and settler in Vancouver, Jenny experiences both the privileges and racial injustices that her ancestral identity holds and she centers her work with this in mind. Jenny has a BA from the University of British Columbia, where she majored in Psychology and minored in English Literature.
She comes to Yarrow with experience working in sexualized violence education, leading volunteers, and social justice-centered event planning. Jenny is excited to build Yarrow’s volunteer programs and community events, and commits herself to learning from and about the intersecting marginalized communities in Chinatown and the DTES. Outside of work, Jenny enjoys reading webtoons, hand-making personalized gifts for her loved ones, and any other hobby that her and her neurodivergence is set on doing at the time.
anita
劉小姐
outreach Coordinator
sHe/HER
Anita is an immigrant from Hong Kong with her paternal roots in Hetang, Xinhui/Sunwui. She studied comparative literature and worked as a reporter/editor in Hong Kong. She believes that we can build intergenerational and intercultural relationships and be healed through story-telling. Anita enjoys swimming, reading and chilling in the park or on the beach under the sun.