Visions | Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- This week on Visions, we are celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
The Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation celebrates 60 years of work advocating for its neighborhood.
PCDC has been a driving force in the community helping residents with housing, business, immigration and making Chinatown a cultural destination in the city.
John Chin joined the organization in 2000 and has seen incredible growth including the $75 million Crane Center that serves as a community hub for recreation. He was raised in the neighborhood so is deeply rooted in the community and has been involved in the many battles to save the neighborhood from development.
Chinatown Stitch is the most recent battle. It is a highway capping project that would run across the 676 Vine Street Expressway adding two-and-a-half blocks of green space to the neighborhood. The project is still in the planning stage after losing a grant that would have funded the entire construction.
The hope is to stitch the community together reconnecting the North and South sides of Chinatown across the highway.
Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation | Facebook | Instagram
301-305 North 9th Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19107
Dr. Virginia Lee is one of the world's pioneering researchers in neurodegenerative disease, whose discoveries of key proteins transformed brain science.
Her journey began amid war and displacement in China.
She was raised in Hong Kong by her grandmother, a Chinese peasant who taught her how to read and made sure she got a good education.
During postdoctoral research in Boston, she met her husband. The two became partners in life-and in the lab. They moved to Philadelphia and, in 1991, founded Penn's Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research.
After years of false starts and relentless work, their breakthroughs helped unlock how devastating brain diseases develop.
Now at 80, Dr. Lee's time in the lab is rare-but her legacy, and the research she built at Penn, lives on through the next generation of scientists.
Penn Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Maloney Building, 3rd Floor
3600 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19104
The new learning center connected to the Bharatiya Temple recently opened in Montgomeryville.
It's an Indian Temple founded by Nand Todi, who is its president. The temple has become a hub for the Indian community as a place of worship and celebration of traditional practices.
The learning center will have over 200 students in kindergarten and middle school who will learn Indian traditions, culture, values, music, and religion.
The new center houses a dozen classrooms, and there are three-hour-long classes on Sunday mornings. In addition to the classrooms, there is a new cafeteria serving authentic Indian vegetarian cuisine.
President and founder of the temple, Nand Todi, says the learning center's goal is to create a legacy. His hope is for their children to carry on their Indian traditions for the next generation.
Bharatiya Temple | Facebook
1612 County Line Road, Chalfont, Pa. 18914
HMart in Cherry Hill just reopened after a massive renovation and expansion after 25 years of serving the local community.
The Korean grocery chain was founded by Il Yeon Kwon in 1982 in Queens, New York. After nearly 45 years, the chain now boasts 100 stores and a growing interest in their inventory of Korean foods and novelties.
Also in the world of Asian foods, the purple yam grown in the Phillipines knows as 'ube' is facing a global shortage due to viral exposure of sweets and drinks featuring its vibrant purple color and unique taste.
Chef Chance Anies attests to how hard it is to find anymore, as he likes to incorporate the ingredient into menu items at his Filipino-forward restaurants, Manong and Tabachoy.
Filipino grocer Julius Nery also notes the shortage as he stocks the shelves of his Pinoy Groseri in the Northeast, but he always has an extensive selection of ube-flavored items and Filipino staples. On weekends, he also cooks and serves hot dishes of Filipino favorites, available for takeout or delivery.
HMart Cherry Hill | Manong | Tabachoy | Pinoy Groseri | Hung Vuong Markets
Peri Law is a busy woman serving her community as an organizer, an activist and an artist. She creates works of art that represent her life's journey, her culture and her identity.
Peri is a member of AAU helping run youth programs and teaching skills through art projects.
She serves as the President for Soapbox, a collaborative art space in West Philadelphia. She also serves as a mentor at Ginger Arts Center in Chinatown, a third space for students to gather in the neighborhood.
Her artwork has led her to the Philadelphia Museum of Art as an artist collaborator. She has shown works at museums and exhibitions around the city.
Many of her pieces take an institutional piece of art that she interprets with personal touches to create a new vision.
