Our Efforts
2022 The Filipiniana Gala
Pictured are Sum Nguyen and Minsoo Song (top) and Gigi de Gala and Gloria Williams (bottom). NaFFAA is the National Federal of Filipino American Associations (Region V): https://www.naffaaregion5.org. Gloria is Immediate Past Chair. The Filipiniana Gala was held October 8th and raised funds for Philippine disaster relief, leadership training, youth programs and more.
Colorado Health Foundation
Power & Resiliency Funds
COVID-19 Booster Shot Equity Clinic, November 13, 2021
The Aurora Asian/Pacific Community Partnership and the Korean Nurses Association sponsored a Covid-19 equity vaccine clinic with a goal to maintain healthy communities by providing 300 Pfizer and Moderna booster shots and first-time vaccination participants age 5-11. Partnership Co-Chair, Peter Lee organized his ninth vaccination clinic, and it was successfully completed within three hours with minimum wait times for participants. One volunteer, Partnership member Alice Moy, gave assistance and translation for the Chinese community, and there were many who could translate for Korean-speaking participants. The Partnership helped promote the event and covered expenses for the appointment-making process, gift cards for the eight volunteer nurses and volunteers’ lunch. Mission Disciple Church also provided volunteers, as well as tea and coffee.
Colorado Health Foundation
Power & Resiliency Funds
Faith & Blue Game Day, October 23, 2021
Hosted by the Aurora Community of Faith and the Aurora Police Department
The Partnership sponsored a booth that promoted efforts to encourage appropriate responses to Asian hate incidents and crimes. Partnership Steering Committee member Gigi De Gala serves on the Community Policing Advisory Team and coordinated the Partnership booth. She collected many prizes for a drawing at the booth, a flower-making project for the children, and distributed information about the Partnership’s mission, a notepad and pen, as well as 100 anti-Asian hate printed packets and safety whistles provided through the Asian Roundtable of Colorado. This is a good start toward a larger goal to develop good relations between the police and the greater Asian communities. A few volunteers from the Partnership assisted Gigi, and the Partnership covered the tent rental and miscellaneous expenses related to the booth.
Colorado Health Foundation
Power & Resiliency Funds
Workshop: AAPI Resilience Building
Sept. 25th, Redline Contemporary Art Center
The purpose of the workshop, given by the Asian Roundtable of Colorado, was to launch the resilience effort against Asian hate and build both individual and organizational strength to respond appropriately. There were 30 participants and eight speakers, representing the Filipino (two organizations—national and local), Lao/Hmong, Korean, Indian, Pacific Islanders, Chinese, Vietnamese, Nepalese and Burmese communities, as well as the Partnership. The facilitators were Stella Yu, George Kuwamura, Peter Lee, Abbie Kozik and Samina Hamidi of ARC. Featured presenters introduced the need for reporting and knowing how to respond to either hate crimes or civil rights attacks.
To report an incident or crime, one can use the APDC Hotline: 720-394-7909 (the Filipino Hotline is 840-800-2085). The new website that ARC is developing is https://www.ActionAgainstHate.org. Printed packets were distributed that contain information on the “5 Ds of Being an Upstander”: Direct (respond directly to the situation), Delegate (get help from another resource or third party), Distract (bring attention away from the person being targeted), Delay (check in with the person being targeted), and Document (if someone is already helping the person in crisis, take a photo or video the scene). A whistle is included in each packet. ARC will distribute $5,000 to different participating AAPI communities to help them educate their respective communities about what to do when involved in or hearing about Asian hate incidents. The Partnership is a contributing sponsor of this effort with the $15,000 given to ARC from The Colorado Health Foundation grant.
Colorado Asian Culture and Education Network
Workshop: Empowering New Leaders for Today’s Issues
Saturday, June 26th, at Happy Living Center, facilitated by Colorado Asian Culture and Education Network (CACEN)
An empowerment workshop for the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community was held with 14 participants. The facilitator was Partnership Steering Committee member Annie Guo VanDan and her nonprofit, Colorado Asian Culture and Education Network (CACEN).
She had some assistance from Amuda Mishra, a CORE trainer (Community Organizing for Radical Empathy). The event discussed how community members are responding and coping to the incidents of hate and violence targeting the AAPI community and provided an overview of how these incidents lead to trauma and mental health impacts. Participants shared how they were currently feeling, reflected on their own spaces of privilege and power, and considered ways to use their resources, intellect and connections to make a difference as changemakers. Participants shared that they were challenged when thinking about their own privilege. One participant, for example, mentioned being a small business clothing store owner and having more awareness of working with more diverse individuals to represent her brand. Another mentioned feeling challenged about having conversations on race with her family while seeing the importance as she has a bi-racial child. Feedback from another participant observed that there are still many more aspects to the issue for future discussion. The participants recognized the value of having a space for AAPI individuals to gather and plan to stay in touch for future similar opportunities.
Korea Town Aurora
The Partnership gave support for the Korea Town Aurora branding event by contributing 14 gift certificates from Asian-owned businesses as a grant prize at the golf tournament held August 26th in collaboration with the Colorado Restaurant Korean Association the Korean Amateur Sports Association of Colorado and Aurora Sister Cities International (Seongnam City, South Korea is an Aurora sister city). Korea Town Aurora will be a virtual directory and point of connection for all things Korean business and businesses with Korean products and services. Partnership member Gigi de Gala volunteered for the event, and Partnership member and Immediate Past Co-Chair Sukie Kang golfed in the tournament with her foursome.
Colorado Health Foundation
Power & Resiliency Funds
Asian Eats To-Go, On Havana Street with Asian Avenue magazine
The purpose of Asian Eats To-Go is to promote local Asian eateries. During the pandemic, the Partnership paid for ads in Asian Avenue magazine and posted the event on social media. Most of the eateries were offering pick up or curb-side delivery but needed more business to survive. The effort was promoted, and readers/social media contacts were encouraged to try something new and support the On Havana Street Asian food businesses. Those who participated placed an order from the options provided, paid for their meals and picked up their order at a designated location. The Partnership paid for extra meals at the events to deliver directly to Korean seniors in the area who were isolating. This reminded them that their favorite foods are just ‘down the street’. Both events provided about 120 meals to participants from seven different eateries.
Colorado Health Foundation
Power & Resiliency Funds
COVID-19 Vaccine Equity Clinics
The Partnership supported various vaccine clinics, specifically those On Havana Street and within the Korea community through a local Korean church. They are a model for future equity clinics to serve the Aurora community.
Korean-focused equity clinics - Co-Chair Peter Lee organized the first vaccination clinic with the Korean Disciple Mission Church of Denver on March 17th, and 205 people received their first doses. The second-dose clinic was held April 14th at the same location. The vaccines were provided by the State of Colorado, and CAHEP administered the vaccine with volunteers from the church and the Colorado Korean Nurses Association. There were many Asian seniors who were over 65, and lunch was provided. Thank you to CAHEP, the nurses, the church, and volunteers and to The Colorado Health Foundation for help with funding to make this first clinic a model for future clinics. The Partnership covered various costs; i.e., volunteer lunches, gift certificates to volunteer nurses, donations to providers, stipends to the schedulers and more.
On Havana Street equity vaccine clinics – Co-Chair Chance Horiuchi organized equity-focused vaccine clinics through the Havana Business Improvement District with translators fluent in 20 different languages to aid recipients. The clinics were held at the Stampede in Aurora on March 27th (second shot on May 1st). Pre-registrations for over 400 vaccines were filled within 28 hours. The vaccines were administered by two small community clinics, Colorado Primary Care Clinic and Colorado Alliance for Health Equity and Practice (CAHEP), with volunteers from the Philippine Nurses Association of Colorado. The Havana B.I.D. secured several sponsors for the event, including the Partnership, with nearly 65 volunteers dedicating their time for the all-day events to help with translation, set up and tear down, traffic control, safety and sanitation, technology needs, business and organization leaders, medical professionals and more. The Partnership covered various costs; i.e., rentals, volunteer lunches, donations to providers, a contribution toward venue costs, and more.
Colorado Health Foundation
Power & Resiliency Funds
COVID-19 Education
In 2021, the Partnership utilized the services of the city of Aurora’s Office of International and Immigrant Affairs (OIIA) to produce and publish a vaccine campaign, promoting the benefits of getting the COVID-19 vaccine. The print and social media ads, including Facebook boosts, were in various languages and in collaboration with the City of Aurora, Tri-County Health Department and Partnership Steering Committee members. Examples of the ad (right).
Colorado Health Foundation
Power & Resiliency Funds
Distribution of Protective Masks during COVID-19
In 2020 and 2021, the Partnership purchased over 2000 Korean copper-infused masks from a local business and distributed them to Aurora’s Asian American businesses. Members developed a distribution list and then went door-to-door or mailed masks to various businesses with a letter that encouraged business owners to help protect employees and their customers. Some of the businesses included Korean businesses, businesses On Havana Street, various Asian restaurants and small Asian-owned businesses, as well as to the Chinese Evergreen Society and in gift baskets for the Aurora Business Recognition Awards.