Another year around the sun! It only feels like yesterday that some of us were beginning the year with fresh hope and new ideas and a surge of energy and we've accomplished a lot, set a lot of things in motion to be accomplished next year and we are sailing into the year with renewed energy!

2021 continued to be a year of challenges and we honored and respected our sponsors' values and 300% accountability by hosting virtual events.

“Sincere Congratulations on your well-deserved retirement! Your success has been fueled by your passion, intelligence, dedication and energy.  You’ve earned our greatest respect for what you’ve done for your own career and the APIA community.  Best wishes in this new phase of your life, may all your hopes and plans come true!” - Angela Wang Beasinger, Past President, CAPA

“This year, CAPA, the Council of Asian Pacific Americans, is 20 years old, playing a critical role in bringing the Asian American community together in Metro Detroit area and throughout Michigan. In 2000, Stephanie had a vision to create an organization to do just that — strengthening and broadening the Asian American community. With Stephanie’s vision, along with Dr. Marie Weng, Mrs. Asae Shichi, and myself, we had the honor to create the foundation of what CAPA is today. DTE Energy, the company she’s retiring from, played a visionary role of supporting CAPA from day one. Congratulations, Stephanie, on a job well done in so many countless ways. Thank you for your vision and leadership!” - Dr. Sook Wilkinson

“Best wishes to Dominic as he settles down in bright and sunny Puerto Rico. We are very much honored by the beautiful designs you have shared with CAPA.” - Melanie Steele, Executive Director, CAPA

December 2021

After serving for nearly 10 years as the President of Lawrence Technological University, Dr. Virinder Moudgil is retiring at the end of this year.

During his tenure as the 7^th President in LTUs 90-year history, Dr. Moudgil has created several momentous events and programs that has forever changed the direction of the University from a commuter campus to a residential University. Previously, for over 3 decades, Dr. Moudgil served in several leadership roles at Oakland University. With the support of the university president, Dr. Moudgil, was instrumental, as Co-chair of the Committee to launch the prestigious OUWB (Oakland University William Beaumont) School of Medicine. During his tenure at Oakland University hosting 5 sitting US Presidents and the former President of India Dr. Abdul Kalam are historic.

As CAPA’s Advisory Board member, Dr. Moudgil continues to make an impact on our organization and the APA community. On behalf of CAPA let us join together in extending our best wishes and congratulations on a job well done!

I’m aware that this end-of-the-year piece should have been primarily about Asian-centered issues, but I’ve read dozens of think pieces and opinions on the shootings, and have yet to read one from the perspective of an actual high schooler. I had a whole article prepared about the experiences of queer Asian Americans but in light of the Oxford school shootings, I feel as though there’s a more pressing topic to be discussed. I’m a junior in high school in the AAPS school system. I’d never once felt unsafe in my school. Honestly, I’m fortunate enough that I don’t think I’ve ever truly felt unsafe. I’ve heard my whole life that the area that I live in was a bubble, “nothing bad ever happens in Ann Arbor”, is something that I’ve heard countless times.

If I may take a quick detour, I know that there have been hundreds of school shootings, but the one that I remember most distinctly is the one in Parkland. It was the first major shooting where I understood what was going on. By that time I was 12 years old and capable of comprehending

the loss of life that occurred. The day after Parkland, I remember being taken with the rest of my class to an assembly where our principal told us about what happened. I vaguely recall going home, and telling my mother what happened at school, and then being told that it was horrible, but nothing like that was ever going to directly impact me.

Well, that was a lie. My school, much like many others in Michigan, had to be shut down for a day due to the fact that someone threatened to shoot up the school. In fact, someone threatened directly to kill several of my friends off of sheer virtue of them being on the girls' basketball team. I’ve been sent screenshots of the guy’s post, and directly took some of him retracting his statement, stating that it was just a joke, not a very funny one then, if you ask me.

I’ve had a rough year, like most of the world, and it came with some realizations that led to me making my peace with the idea of death. I used to be terrified of it, but, not to bear my soul to an audience of strangers, living in a global pandemic with people dying all around us has changed me.

So I thought that the idea of a school shooting wouldn’t affect me as much, but the moment it went from something that occasionally lingered at the back of my mind to something very real, I was so incredibly rattled that I couldn’t believe myself. It turns out that there's a big difference between wondering what would happen in the instance of a school shooting to realizing that some of the most important people in your life have the great potential to die because of one.

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned out of this horrible tragedy that I’d like to impart onto all of you, in all of my 16 year old wisdom, it’s that you never know how you’re going to react to a situation until you’re put into it. And also, not to be horribly succinct, gun reform is needed. I’d never like to see news of another person my age being shot and killed because someone let their kid near a gun.

My thoughts go out to the families of those killed in Oakland, rest in peace Tate Myre, Hana St. Juliana, Justin Shilling, and Madisyn Baldwin.

 Keeping Natural Gas prices low

You can here more details from Dan Brudzynski, Vice President of Gas Sales and Supply, about our strategy here

It also important for you to know your gas supplier. Michigan is a gas choice state, meaning that while DTE handles the delivery, service and billing functions, customers can choose whether they purchase their gas supply from DTE or a third-party supplier. For more information on this, visit dteenergy.com/gaschoice

· Get Help by Calling 2-1-1: Call 2-1-1 or go to www.mi211.org to learn about agencies in your county that may assist with your energy bill.

· State Emergency Relief (SER) Program - SER may help low-income households pay part of their heating or electric bills, assist in keeping utilities in service, or have service restored. The program is available all year long. Call your local Department of Health and Human Services office for information or apply on MI Bridges. Households must apply for SER assistance prior to receiving any MEAP services.

· Michigan Energy Assistance Program (MEAP) - MEAP works with households to provide supplemental bill payment assistance and self-sufficiency services to low-income residents statewide. At the time of SER application, applicants will be able to choose a MEAP provider to work with. A list of organizations that deliver MEAP services can be found here. MEAP Grantees are all Community Partners with MDHHS and can help applicants to navigate the MDHHS application process.

· Community Partners - Connect with an MDHHS community partner to help work through the process of applying for assistance

 Please see the PDF press releases for further details. 

The DTE Energy Foundation announced it will award the third round of grants to all 45 domestic violence shelters funded by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) to help provide safe havens needed by survivors to find hope and heal. The Foundation’s $420,000 donation follows its previous awards, bringing the amount of support to shelters funded by MDHHS to $1.8 million. Please see the attached press release for further details.