Jenny Chan grew up in Chinatown in a large family of 6 siblings as the second youngest child.
At the young age of 18, Jenny suffered an unfortunate attack that was a turning point in her life. Jenny was living alone at the time and memories of having to physically fight off the assailant resurfaced again and again after the assault. Her mental health began to deteriorate from the fear of the attack and her growing isolation from living alone.
Jenny began to hear voices, and concerned about her health, her family sent her to the hospital. Jenny was hospitalized for years, and through her recovery was eventually able to transition into BCHS’ Scattered Site Apartment Treatment Program.
She remembers her initial interview with our intake coordinator in 2004, and fondly remembers the moment that she found out that she was accepted and considered a strong candidate for the program.
At BCHS, Jenny lived with two other roommates and received weekly check-ins with her case manager that helped her re-learn the skills necessary to keep up her health, take her medicine, learn to cook, and keep her room clean. She joined in on BCHS’ Therapeutic Art Programs which helped her build her confidence in her art and was featured in BCHS’ first art show, and our subsequent shows.
As her independence and daily living skills improved, Jenny went on to live with only one roommate, whom she formed a strong bond with.
In 2016, after 12 years of being with BCHS, Jenny had made significant strides in her health and was ready to graduate from Scattered Site into living alone. Now, after 6 years of living independently, Jenny enjoys visiting her family on the weekends and hanging out with her old Scattered Site roommate who lives closeby. She travels to other service providers in NYC and continues to create art. Jenny has shown her work in over 50 shows throughout the City, including shows at NYU, SVA and even having the opportunity to have a piece on display at MoMa. In March of 2022, Jenny had her first solo show exhibition in Brooklyn.
You can stay up to date with Jenny’s art and art shows via her instagram.
