A New Year’s Message from KRC's Board Chair
January 19th, 2021. 4:50 PM (PST), Tuesday
Dear Supporters and Friends of KRC,
2020 will be a year that we will mark as one that has been more challenging than most.
And with all that has happened at the Korean Resource Center (KRC) since 2019, we are grateful that you continue to stand with us.
It has been a year of transition and transformation. The transitions were rough and the transformation is still taking place. New leadership, new staff, new programs and a new approach to leadership in the nonprofit sector has given KRC a chance to test its ability to live up to its values.
As a community-based organization, we know we are part of a bigger picture that includes all the spaces where KRC works - immigrant rights, healthcare for all, access to affordable housing, service to our elders who are monolingual and among the most economically disadvantaged.
This open letter is to let you know that we continue to do this work with a commitment to community empowerment, lifting voices and experiences of those too often left behind, and making sure that our community grows into the transformation that is taking place all around us. We have reached beyond our comfort zone on many levels with organizational development/leadership, outreach to emergent movements, self-reflection on what it will take to plant deeper roots as we explore how best to serve.
In 2020, even in the midst of challenges, KRC was successful: stabilized and grew out financial base, created a youth leadership and civic engagement program that is attracting new talent into the organization and community, reaching thousands of community members (in English and Korean) to inform them about important ballot measures and policy debates taking place locally and nationally. The enthusiasm of the young leaders was matched by the long-term staff of KRC, all of whom worked to increase participation in the 2020 Census, created in-language videos and other materials on housing, unemployment, health care, and updates on the immigration policies that affect DACA recipients and impacted families. In addition, KRC maintained the legal services program that helps so many people navigate the various programs that affect access to services and benefits to which our community members are entitled.
The creativity and dedication of staff at the Korean Resource Center is a direct result of the generations of leaders who struggled before us, to make sure that this organization will never lose sight of its primary goal to be in service to those community members who have nowhere else to go in order to understand their options and to empower themselves by lifting their voices in every public process that seeks to be diverse, equitable, inclusive, and just.
Wishing all of you good health and strong spirit in 2021.
Angela Oh
KRC Board Chair
