What would we do at C4 (Coreatown Corean Language Community Center)?

Meaningfully connect people to healthcare, CalFresh, CAPI, and Social Security. We don’t mean just application assistance. We mean following up to troubleshoot issues. We recently helped a Korean grandma get $24,000 in CAPI and CalFresh back pay payments. She was not receiving correct information and was given the runaround for almost two years. There are many more low-income seniors like her who are stuck in bureaucratic limbo.

Many Korean and Asian American seniors who are eligible for free meals from LA City or LA County refuse them because they want rice and other culturally relevant foods. They choose to remain food insecure because they simply cannot eat American food.  If we had a commercial kitchen, we could procure government contracts to prepare and distribute meals to our Korean and Asian American seniors. We have been working on procuring government contracts for four years. All we need is a commercial kitchen space. We could also get funding to be a congregate dining location that serves Korean and Asian foods. 

Asian enclaves throughout the United States are targeted by the gambling industrial complex. In particular, our low income Korean and Asian seniors who are lonely and isolated with nowhere else to go. Massive billboard advertisements litter the landscape. Some say they go to casinos during the summer for air conditioning. Free shuttle buses and coupons lure seniors, who will ultimately experience financial losses. Gambling wins are reported as income to the IRS, which can result in the loss of Social Security benefits. We want to offer game rooms, social hours, coffee/tea time for seniors, and air conditioning.

A full suite of housing assistance including application assistance, section-8, tenants rights and advocacy, housing rights, and rental assistance. Currently, these services are fragmented and inconsistently offered by a potpourri of nonprofits; or not offered at all. As such, the eviction and displacement rates for low income Koreans is alarmingly high. We have in house experts on assistance for tenants. We have funding opportunities with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority to provide tenant’s behind on rent with money to pay back rent or money to pay security deposits and initial rent to move into a new place.

We got California State to approve our multilingual apprenticeship program for workforce training. We need a location to implement the program. California state will also help with Federal government approval. These apprenticeship programs for Asian Americans could go nationwide. We will get assistance with funding once we have our first  location. Korean and Asian Americans rarely benefit from apprenticeship programs. The first one we start with is just the tip of the iceberg. Apprenticeship programs can be fantastic opportunities for upward mobility for low income, working class, and blue collar Koreans and Asian Americans.