Community Corner
Watch How 3 Neighborhood Heroes Helped Koreatown Heal And Rebuild
The 1992 L.A. riots nearly destroyed Koreatown, but these Korean community center co-founders reimagined a space where everyone could heal.
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When the 1992 Los Angeles riots hit Koreatown, hundreds of small businesses sustained serious damage. The community was devastated and, as resident Cooke Sunoo recalls, "The city had no 501(c)3 organizations that they could ask to help out."
But Cooke, along with fellow Koreatown Youth and Community Center co-founders Inhwan Kim and Jane Kim, stepped up to help. "The KYCC then was able to organize all of the charitable giving [and] all of the government funds that were coming in," Cooke said.
Before the riots, the center focused on supporting at-risk Korean youth, but Cooke, Jane and Inhwan — three Koreatown locals being celebrated in Neighborhood Heroes, a new series from Ring — transformed their organization to provide a place where the entire diverse community could come together and heal.
"After the 1992 L.A. riot, I think we came to understand that we need to provide services to other ethnic groups, other immigrant groups, and work together," Jane said.
Over the next decade, KYCC leaders and staff worked hard to recreate the youth center to serve the evolving needs of L.A.'s Korean American population, as well as the multiethnic Koreatown community. "Koreans in Koreatown have never been more than, say, 20 percent of the population," Cooke explained. "The other 80 percent of the population I think is what has been really dramatically different over the years. [W]ithin the boundaries of Koreatown we have Little Bangladesh, [and] right on the edge is Little Armenia."
And as Inhwan pointed out, the KYCC also serves a large Hispanic and African American population. "Koreatown is a language," he said. "It's a culture … For me, [when you] live together, that's a community."
Single Mom Of 5 Says KYCC Provides Assistance For Her Family “Financially, Mentally [and] Physically”
For the past five years, Aurora Reyes has lived with her five kids in the Menlo Family Apartments above the Menlo Family Center run by the KYCC. "Before I was here, I was in East Los Angeles," she said. Reyes' husband passed away, and she "was going through a domestic violence case, so I had to bring my kids out this way."
Reyes said she found the KYCC-run center "helpful and family-oriented," adding, "I feel a sense of community here." She said the organization has provided assistance for her family, "financially, mentally [and] physically."
If it weren't for the KYCC's programs and services, "I think my kids wouldn't be eating," Reyes said. The organization not only provides housing, food and financial assistance, but also after-school programs, life skills training, parenting workshops and mental health counseling and treatment.
As Reyes put it, "They've been helping me a lot with, you know, paying bills and, you know, whatever we may need at that time."
What Does The Future Hold For The KYCC?
The caring staff and volunteers at the KYCC have been improving quality of life for folks in Koreatown for over 35 years. Cooke said he hopes the organization continues "to serve the broad geography and all of the communities of the Koreatown area."
Jane echoed this sentiment, saying, "I also hope that KYCC will continue programs in enhancing racial harmony between different ethnic groups … we poured our hearts and soul into what KYCC is today, and I hope that it will continue on.”
To learn more about Cooke, Jane and Inhwan and the important work at the KYCC, check out www.kyccla.org. And if you know a Neighborhood Hero in your community that Ring should feature in its new series, reach out to stories@ring.com.
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