March, 2023

First Board meeting with new CAPA President, Dr. Su McKeithen-Polish (center) and new Board members along with past presidents and returned Board members, 1/24/2023

CAPA Supports Sterling Heights Cultural Exchange



Meeting and networking with different organizations like Chaldean Community Foundation and Hmong’s Women group.

On February 24, 2023, CAPA participated in the 25^th Annual Sterling Heights Cultural Exchange Event. It was a great turn out, and CAPA has successfully networking and recruiting some of the new youth volunteers. Thanks to four CAPA Board members: Luna Xiong, Rita Phonphila, Poorna Barua and Joy Janadia for representing our team! Other Board members, Dan Moen, Dina Keeling and Josie Sander were performing beautiful ethnic dances. What a great event to be part of!

Meeting and networking with different organizations like Chaldean Community Foundation and Hmong’s Women group.

Asian Americans Rise Against Hate Crimes and Gun Violence

In solidarity with Asian American organizations across the nation, APIA Vote-MI invited community leaders to commemorate the 8 victims of the 2021 Atlanta spa shootings and facilitate a community discussion with Senator Stephanie Chang on gun legislation in Michigan. CAPA members supported this event and came together to honor the shooting victims, their families, their communities, their friends, and all who were affected by the shooting tragedy.

This event took place on March 16, 2023, at the Buddhist Meditation Center in Sterling Heights. The Asian American community stood in solidarity against hate and hate-motivated acts of violence. With anti-Asian hate crimes on the rise since 2020, our community has been deeply wounded countless times. The need for community care increases with each turn of a corner, and we find ways within ourselves to give that care to each other— an invaluable aspect of our growing community.

“Together, we can commit to push beyond oppressive boundaries and build sustainable, caring communities. Together, we can address the needs of victims of hate-crime violence and hold our elected leaders accountable for creating policies that center community needs. Together, we can push for community-based organizations which provide care and healing for victims of racial discrimination and gender-based violence,” said Rebeka Islam, Executive Director of APIA Vote-MI.

APIA Vote-Mi wanted to hold space for the Asian American community and call on legislators and ask them to support legislation that protect us. To rid our communities of these tragedies, the government and laws must respond with action. Our voices must be heard among the chatter of conversation around gun legislation in our country to bring about change and allow us all a path for healing.

We ask everyone to join APIA Vote-MI and CAPA on May 10^th during APA heritage month. We will be going to Lansing to implore legislators to stand with the AAPI community and the BIPOC communities.

Senator Stephanie Chang speaks out against Anti-Asian Hate and Gun Violence

CAPA President, Dr. Su McKeithen, looks on with APIA Vote-Mi Field Director, Kurtis Fernandez, as Rebeka Islam helps light memorial candles to honor the 2021 Atlanta spa shooting victims.

CAPA joins APIA Vote-Mi and community leaders at the Buddhist Meditation Center in Sterling Heights.

Israa Ibrahim urges attendees to advocate for stricter gun legislation and to spread love, not hate.

International Women’s Day

CAPA was one of the collaborators for the International Women’s Day Event. Our Board members not only volunteered to help with the event, one of our Board members, Dr. Mayuree Wadhawan , was one of the performers. She did a beautiful job of showcasing a Thai traditional dance of “Manora” and representing CAPA. CAPA’s Advisory Board members also attended – thank you!

Duchess Awards 2023 Event, March 18, 2023

On behalf of CAPA, Dr. Su McKeithen-Polish, CAPA’s President, attended the Duchess Awards 2023 ceremony. It was so accelerating to be among the women leaders who make a difference across the world! Thank you Detroit Duchess Club for inviting CAPA to be part of this excellent event.

FILAMCCO Spreads the Gifts of Warmth and Comfort 

The holiday season is about spreading cheer and the sharing of blessings. These sentiments were celebrated this past winter by the friends and families of the Filipino American Community Council of Michigan (FILAMCCO) with several community outreach events focused on keeping our community warm and fed.

Thanks to the donations of gently used coats and clothes from community members, we were able to help keep people warm and comfortable. A joint project of FILAMCCO, PACCM, and PAFI, the warming items were distributed to those in need. The first batch of winter coats and clothes were given to newly arrived Filipino teachers and their families. The second batch of donations were delivered to immigrant families and unhoused men and woman at the HOPE Warming Shelter in Pontiac by FILAMCCO Service Chair Eleonor Jenks with Joseph Paul Javier and Rob Dionisio. Lastly, the third batch was sent out to help those in war-torn Ukraine.

Food and care boxes courtesy of 168 Group were also delivered to the Philippine American Cultural Center and were delivered to local families around Metro-Detroit. And thanks to a joint project with DTE, new energy-efficient LED lights were also given to members of our community to help save with the costs of electricity.

PACCM Fundraiser Kicks Off with Talent Show & Fashion Walk

The Philippine American Cultural Center of Michigan (PACCM) has begun the search for a new building to call their new home. The efforts to raise funds needed for the big move kicked off with a spectacular showcase of talent and fashion last month. The students, teachers, and families of Paaralang Pilipino came together to highlight their varied talents in a well-attended afternoon featuring singing, dancing, and cultural fashions.

For the talent portion of the program featured vocal renditions, folk dance, hula, martial arts demonstrations, instrumental performances, modern dance, and even solving a Rubik’s cube on stage. It was a family affair as generations of Filipino-Americans took to the catwalk showing off the ethnic fashions representing the multi-cultural backgrounds of our diverse PACCM members. Apart from the expected Filipiniana, cultural costumes featured were from Africa, Scotland, Poland, Vietnam, England, Mexico, Norway, and other areas across the globe.

As the PACCM has the goal of $500K to raise in order to purchase a new building which they will call home, be on the lookout for more fundraising events in the upcoming months. 

Justin Alesna: Detroit Ambassador for Tribal and Contemporary Pilipino Arts

Fabulous Ferndale was alight with Filipino music, dance, and cuisine as the community came out to support first-generation African-American/Filipino-American performance artist, Justin Alesna, represent Detroit and explore his Filipino roots through the The KULARTS Tribu Tur.

Held last month at 215 West Ferndale event and social space, the home of PanDeMonium, a pop-up restaurant featuring Filipino food offerings as well as Club PanDeMonium nights, the evening fundraiser was set-up to help Alesna participate in The KULARTS hands-on field study, custom-designed for participants to explore, discover, and draw empowerment from indigenous Pilipino cultures of Mindanao.

“It truly has been an honor to have been chosen as one of the many talented American Arts Ambassadors through Kularts San Francisco to experience the hospitality and cultural diversity of the Pre-colonial Indigenous Tribes of the Philippine Island of Mindanao.” said Justin. “Magsukul, Sukran, and Salamat Po to Kularts and the National Commission of Cultural Arts in the Philippines.”

The fundraiser featured the dance talents of Justin Alesna as well as musical performances of his friends from our local Filipino-American community. Guests were also treated to PanDeMonium’s pinoy cuisine like pandesal, lumpia, Filipino bbq, and more.

Through the support of the community, Justin was able to travel to the Philippines and participate in KULARTS Tribu Tur where he engaged in meaningful interactions with T’boli, B’laan, Maguindanaon, and Manobo tribal leaders, shamans & healers, and master artists in their ancestral homes in Davao del Sure, Sanggani, South Cotabato, and Maguindanao.

“This process will help me create new performative and healing works that will showcase both the beauty and splendor of an integral part of my culture. It will also enrich and enlighten those who may not know our histories—both collective and personal,” added Justin. “We are the Ancestors of the future, It's our turn to pass on our stories, our knowledge, and our heritage in hopes that our myths of Us will not go feared and misunderstood.” 

Upcoming Events:



April 22, 2023: PACCM & TAAM Events

May 13, 2023: CAPA’s Gala Night: Merit of Excellence Awards

KACCM’s first health Screen for our community will be held on April 15(Saturday) from 9 am to noon time at KACCM ( Korean American Cultural Center of Michigan, 24666 Northwestern Hwy., Southfield, Michigan) with the Wayne State Medical school students’ group.

The following service will be provided. 

Height and Weight, 

BMI, Blood pressure, Heart rate/rhythm, 

Blood sugar, 

Blood fat (triglycerides), 

Cholesterol, 

HbA1C (only test for the high blood sugar test result persons).  If you want to screen your health condition, please come by.

Board & Advisory Meeting

March 11, 2023

Our 2023 CAPA Committee Chairs:

Luna Xiong

Education Co-Chair

Rita Phongphila

Education Co-Chair

Dr. Mayuree Wadhawan

Cultural Co- Chair in charge of Talent (SOE)

Gongju Zoe Baek

Cultural Co- Chair in charge of Venue (SOE)

Jacqueline Dinh

Cultural Co- Chair in charge of Afterglow (SOE)

Kalaya Petek

Community Services Co- Chair

Joy Janadia

Community Services Co- Chair

Mudmee Manthonkham

Communications & Marketing Co- Chair

Dan Moen

Communications & Marketing Co- Chair

Joseph Javier

Publicity Chair

Siri Pipatsattayanuwong

Membership Co- Chair

Nattapa Mularski

Membership Co- Chair

Anshi Pacha

Youth Chair

Poorna Barua

Youth Co Chair

Cathy Javier

Youth Co Chair

Pina Vyas

Nomination Chair

Dr Su & Ryan Rosario

Fundraising Co-Chairs

Suman Desaraju

Director

Anand Kumar

Director

Lisa Gray

Director (Taste of Asia, Chair)

Word From Our Sponsors



REMINDER:

DTE’s virtual Energy Assistance and Payment Plan Overview session is only two weeks away. You won't want to miss the information we are presenting regarding energy assistance. To attend, please be sure to Register here today! Registration ends February 23. More details are below and attached. If you have already registered, thank you.

DTE Energy Assistance and Payment Programs Virtual Overview

DTE Community Engagement invites you to attend our Energy Assistance and Payment Programs Virtual Overview to learn about different programs and plans that can help residential customers with their energy bills. in addition, you will hear safety tips and human resource information. Make plans to join the virtual overview on Wednesday, March 1. Register here today!

For more details, see the flyer below and attached. Registration closes at 5 pm on February 23 and space is based on availability. If you have questions, email Devoria.Thomas@dteenergy.com.

Please Note: The overview training is only for non-profit organizations that provide these services to the community; it is not intended for the general public.

We are Committed to Improving Reliability, Investments are Key

In recent weeks, our nation and the state of Michigan faced a series of severe weather events, including our largest ice storm in 50 years, followed by a heavy snowstorm and 45+ mph winds, which caused hundreds of thousands of our customers to lose power. What was once considered a “historic” storm has now become the unwelcome norm, and the severity of this new norm is challenging us and our infrastructure to adapt and adjust.

On behalf of the entire DTE team, we sincerely apologize to those affected by the power outages during the recent waves of extreme weather events. Our customers and communities that we serve deserve better performance from our electric grid and DTE Energy. We know this and wholeheartedly accept the responsibility of working together to invest in our grid to improve its reliability and performance for our customers.

We also want to express our profound gratitude to each of you and all our partners for your assistance and cooperation during the recent restoration efforts. Your collaboration is critical in helping us provide our customers - your constituents - with the safety messages and resources while we worked to restore power as safely and quickly as possible.

To Improve Reliability, We Must Accelerate Investments into the Grid

DTE Electric President and COO Trevor Lauer recently visited Lansing to initiate discussions with legislators on how we can improve electric reliability for our customers. To see dramatically improved performance, we must invest in the grid faster to outpace the rate at which we are experiencing severe weather.

To do this, we need support from the Michigan Public Service Commission and stakeholders in DTE's regulatory filings. In February of this year, we filed with the Michigan Public Service Commission for a rate review of our base electric rates. We know that no one wants to pay more for electricity, and we as a state must do everything we can to make electricity reliable and resilient while maintaining affordability. But, while our current pace of investments in the electric grid has yielded improvements for our customers with base rates remaining nearly flat since 2020, we need to do more to speed up these investments to continue reducing the frequency and duration of outages that disrupt life at home, schools, and businesses.

Smart Grid Automation

We need to drive for full automation of the electric grid within 5 to 6 years – which can fundamentally reduce the duration of outages by allowing us to re-route power on the grid during an outage.

Tree Trimming

We must continue our investment in enhanced tree trimming. We know that the majority of the time our customers spend without power is due to tree interference. In areas where tree trimming is up-to-date, customers experience a 60-70% improvement in overall reliability.

Preventative Maintenance

We must continue preventative maintenance and updating the existing infrastructure – specifically, poles, cross arms, braces, wires, and other equipment that makes the electrical system more reliable and resilient. In 2022, on those most challenged circuits where DTE completed this type of focused maintenance and work, customers experienced a 40-70% improvement in overall reliability.

Rebuild the Grid and Undergrounding

We need to continue the complete rebuild of the older portions of our grid to a modern design. In some instances where it makes sense, we plan to pursue the undergrounding of our distribution system.

What Can You Do?

The Michigan Public Service Commission will hold a series of town hall meetings to take public comments on power outages from the recent winter storms. We believe engaging all stakeholders is vital to improving the reliability of our grid. As such, we want to ensure that you are informed about these public forums and have the opportunity to participate. By working together, we can deliver on accelerating the investment that our grid needs and our customers - your constituents - deserve for reliable power. 

The Michigan Public Service Commission will hold two in-person town halls on March 20 as well as a virtual town hall meeting on March 21.

Jackson Town Hall on March 20, 2023

12:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

American 1 Credit Union Event Center

128 W. Ganson St.

Jackson, MI

Dearborn Town Hall on March 20, 2023

5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Fordson High School Auditorium

13800 Ford Road

Dearborn, MI

Virtual Town Hall on March 21, 2023

6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Click here for the event reservation page.

* A link to participate through Microsoft Teams will be posted closer to the day of the virtual town hall on the event's webpage.

Written comments also may be submitted by mail to Executive Secretary, Michigan Public Service Commission, P.O. Box 30221, Lansing, MI 48909, or by email to mpscedockets@michigan.gov.