New Visions group fills a niche.

Byline: Erin Chan

DETROIT _ To shatter the silence about domestic violence -- specifically among Asians and Asian Americans.

That is why New Visions exists.

The organization, officially called New Visions: Alliance to End Violence in Asian/Asian American Communities, started in March 2002, when two former graduate students, Joon Choi and Emilee Thompson, and a professor at University of Michigan's School of Social Work, Mieko Yoshihama, wanted to address the abuse of Asian and Asian-American women in Southeast Michigan, especially in Wayne, Washtenaw, Macomb and Oakland counties.

It focuses on preventing domestic violence through community outreach, which includes visiting temples and churches and other gathering places.

New Visions is based in Ann Arbor, Mich., …