America Strong: How pandemic grief united generations of Asian Americans through food, community

Heart of Dinner served food to elders, but also united the next generation.

This report is a part of "America Strong," an ABC News series highlighting stories of strength and resiliency across the nation.

Before there was a single confirmed coronavirus case in New York City, a stranger yelled at Yin Chang and Moonlynn Tsai -- who were both born and raised in the U.S. -- to "go back to China."

The couple watched as an outbreak of racism sowed new fear and economic anguish throughout their beloved neighborhood in the city's Chinatown enclave, fueled by biases linked to the first reports of a novel respiratory disease suspected to have originated in Wuhan, China.

"We were more aware that our Asian American community was hurting truly from our own experiences first," Chang, an actress and podcaster, told ABC News, saying they watched people "avoiding us, literally, like we are a walking virus."