Maryland State Delegate Ryan Spiegel Visited CCACC

Maryland State Delegate Ryan Spiegel was recently invited to visit Chinese Culture and Community Service Center (CCACC). Ms. Rita Lewi (Executive Director of CCACC), Ms. Julie Yang (CCACC Board Member), and administrative directors of various divisions warmly welcomed him. They held in-depth discussions on community services issues and challenges in order to benefit the community.

Delegate Spiegel's visit was actively coordinated by Ms. Julie Yang. Around noon on July 24th, Delegate Spiegel was warmly welcomed and escorted to conference room. Present at the meeting were Ms. Rita Lewi, Mr. Ned Li (one of the founders of CCACC & Director of Adult Day Healthcare Center), Mr. Chih-Hsiang Li (one of the founders of CCACC & Director of CCACC Sports), Ms. Julie Yang, Ms. Li-Fang Liu (Deputy Executive Director of CCACC), Ms. May Zhou (Executive Secretary of CCACC), and Ms. Kate Lu (Director of CCACC Health Center).

Executive Director Rita Lewi provided a detailed introduction that gave Delegate Spiegel a profound understanding of CCACC's organization, operations, and the functions and services of its various divisions.

When Director Ned Li introduced the CCACC Adult Day Healthcare Center, Delegate Spiegel particularly noticed the ratio of seniors to staff. This ratio highlighted that each senior receives high-quality, personalized care.

Director Kate Lu emphasized that the CCACC Health Center's ability to provide long-term services to the public is due to the attention and support from the governments and the legislature. She noted that with insufficient resources, medical services are often constrained, and some low-income patients are unable to afford care. She said that we look forward to providing more medical services under continued support from various sectors. Delegate Spiegel highly commended the CCACC Health Center for offering quality medical services to low-income and uninsured residents in Montgomery County.

Executive Director Rita Lewi, who also serves as the Director of CCACC Home Care and CCACC Art Gallery, received praise from Delegate Spiegel as she explained the operations of these two divisions. CCACC Art Gallery is currently fundraising to enhance its audiovisual equipment, and Delegate Spiegel expressed his support and optimism for this initiative.

Deputy Executive Director Li-Fang Liu introduced CCACC Community Services, including various activities for CCACC members and community residents, ESOL classes, and the Senior Planet Computer Technology Classes. Delegate Spiegel was particularly impressed with the Evergreen Club's Senior Nutrition Program and remarked that providing opportunities for retired seniors to learn English and basic computer skills is truly meaningful.

Director Chih-Hsiang Li also briefly explained the current status of CCACC Academy and CCACC Sports. As Delegate Spiegel was very familiar with the swimming program at CCACC Sports, this led to a great conversation.

During the nearly hour-and-a-half-long meeting, Board Member Julie Yang shared her insights extensively. After thorough communication and exchange of opinions, Delegate Spiegel toured the various facilities of CCACC. At the Adult Day Healthcare Center, he witnessed the staffs feeding elderly individuals in need, spoonful by spoonful, which confirmed the high-quality, personalized care stated in the meeting.

Delegate Spiegel expressed deep admiration for CCACC's rapidly growing community services. He expressed hope to secure resources in the future to collaboratively serve residents of diverse ethnic backgrounds in the community.

Recently, Maryland State Delegate Joseph Vogel and Montgomery County Councilmember Marilyn Balcombe visited CCACC. CCACC hopes that, after witnessing firsthand and hearing directly about the challenges and needs faced in serving the community, these distinguished visitors will actively assist CCACC in advancing the well-being of the community.

(Article by CCACC Administrative Office)