Korean Churches for Community Development
Los Angeles, Calif.
Represented by Hyepin Im, president and founder
Description of Contribution to Increase Minority Homeownership
Korean Churches for Community Development (KCCD) is a non-profit organization that has been serving the community with a vision to act as a bridge between the Asian / Korean American community and the greater community at large. Among our many initiatives, one primary focus of service has been providing culturally and linguistically appropriate assistance on homeownership. For the Korean American community, such services are critical as having the second highest language barrier according to the 2000 U.S. Census. For many, many available community services are not readily accessible..
In addition, according to the 2000 U.S. Census Bureau, Korean Americans have one of the lowest homeownership rates in the nation at 40.1% compared to the U.S. national homeownership rate of 66.2 percent. Even when comparing rates to other minority communities including that of the African American community at 46.3% and of the Latino community at 45.7%, the Korean American homeownership rate falls significantly behind.
Since 2001, KCCD has been working to to educate and empower the community to become successful homeowners. Through its innovative partnerships with the ethnic media and the Korean American churches, KCCD has been successful in training and assisting over 4,500 potential homebuyers and in turn has changed the culture of how Korean Americans prepare for homeownership. For many Korean Americans who believed homeownership was not within their reach due to lack of downpayment, closing costs and other resources. KCCD has helped them to dream and prepare for homeownership through KCCD’s education efforts about available downpayment assistance programs and different layered financing options. In addition, many are no longer going to the realtor as their first step in purchasing their home. Rather through KCCD’s certified education program, they are equipping themselves to be a smarter homebuyer. In 2007, KCCD helped families with over $1.4 million dollars in downpayment assistance.
Measurement
To date, KCCD has hosted 8 consecutive Homeownership Fairs in the Los Angeles and Orange County areas, and has attracted a combined total of 5,000 attendees. The goal of the Homeownership Fair is to educate and inform attendees and link them with lenders, realtors, government agencies, etc. Attendees are invited to attend seminars and plenary sessions to learn from key government officials, lenders, realtors, and other professionals. Topics that are covered include information on city and county down payment assistance programs, importance of homebuyer education, IDA matching and FHA programs, information on property tax, scams and fraud prevention, what to look for when shopping for a home, and how to purchase short sale and bank owned (REO) homes. Additionally, prospective homebuyers are afforded the opportunity to meet directly with real estate professionals as well as potential lenders to review their credit and financial information.
By partnering with United Way of Greater Los Angeles in the American Dream IDA program, KCCD has been able to help more the 30 families save over $100,000 in downpayment towards the purchase of a new home. Out of these 30 families, 6 have been able to become first time home buyers.
KCCD Housing Counseling Agency helped first time home buyer Jay Choi and spouse Hea Jin Choi qualify for and receive over $130,000 in government down payment assistance along with $174,000 for Sung-woo Rhee and spouse Myung-sook Jin.
To date, 15 families have successfully purchased a home with a combined total of 4 million dollars in assets through the help of KCCD’s programs and resources.
Innovation
KCCD has been successful in its endeavors by partnering with the 2 most effective mobilizing and outreach sources, Korean American media and Korean American churches. Due to the high language barrier of Korean Americans, KCCD realized that our relationship with the Korean American church community would be a powerful and innovative avenue for maximizing visibility for our homeownership program. As over 75% of Korean Americans attend church, KCCD found that partnering with the Korean American mega churches—some with congregations of more than 5,000 members – is the most effective avenue for outreach and program implementation. Since the Korean American church is not only a religious place of worship but also the cultural, political and economic hub of the Korean American community, KCCD has partnered with churches to distribute half-page flyers that fit into weekly church bulletins, publicizing upcoming events and sharing information about valuable resources and services available in the community. By partnering with the Korean American churches, KCCD has been able to utilize church facilities for workshops, seminars and homeownership fairs.
Another innovative tool for outreach is the use of traditional and nontraditional media outlets. As nearly all non-English speaking Koreans rely solely on Korean ethnic newspapers and on-air broadcastings for general news and information, publicizing government downpayment and other recourses have helped many in the Korean American community. Also, the use on non traditional media outlets such as email blasts has allowed KCCD to reach many more people. With a list of over 8,000 individuals, we are able to publicize our programs and success to key recipients including local and national congress members, legislators, elected officials, affiliate members, local lending and banking institutions, other partner organizations, local media reporters and agencies.
KCCD believes that other minority communities can learn from our innovative and successful language specific programs and outreach efforts. By reaching out to their faith communities and ethic media outlets, other minority organizations can get free advertising and publicity for their organization and programs. By translating and providing resources in their native language, members of other minority communities can tap into city and county resources, resulting in additional funds for down payment and successful homeownership.
Minority Acceptance
KCCD started out by serving the Korean American community of Los Angeles, one of the largest Korean populations outside of Korea. Over the years, KCCD has developed strong partnerships and relationships between community-based organizations, churches, media, government, and corporations-- both inside and outside the Korean American community. Korean newspapers, magazines, radio and television broadcasts including Korea Times, Korea Daily, Koreatown Daily, Radio Korea, Radio Seoul, KBS, TVK24, and JSTV have recognized KCCD as an innovative and pioneering organization in the Korean American community.
Since the introduction of KCCD’s annual homeownership fair in 2001, we have seen a total attendance of about 5000 participants. Even in the midst of an economic downturn, KCCD’s 2008 homeownership fair brought over 600 participants. KCCD’s hard work and involvement in the Korean American community has also been recognized by local, state and federal elected officials. KCCD has received numerous commendation letters and congregational certificates from the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office, the California Governor’s office, and Congressional leaders such as Linda Sanchez and Diane E. Watson, Xavier Becerra, Mark Ridley-Thomas, SBA, and Freddie Mac.