Contents

1. Director’s Letter
2. What’s New
3. New Hires and Goodbyes
4. Employee Spotlight
5. Volunteer Spotlight
6. Birthdays and KYCC Anniversaries
7. Community News
8. Open Positions
9. Volunteer Opportunities
10. Take Note!

Director’s Letter

What’s New

Prevention Education Launches New Program – Building Stronger Families in Metro LA

In October, KYCC launched a new Prevention Education program, Building Stronger Families in Metro LA. Edith Bedolla, formerly KYCC Prevention Coordinator, is the manager for this program, which will support families with children ages 0-5 who are exposed to violence inside and outside the home. By partnering with other organizations throughout Los Angeles, BSMLA hopes to improve living conditions for families that do not have a stable living environment.

“KYCC and our partners are very excited to work along the Best Start Metro LA BSMLA) on this community initiative. This partnership of parents and community-base organizations The issue of violence was identified the by the BSMLA parents as a critical issue that impact the well-being of families in our neighborhoods. KYCC is extremely honored to be part of the very unique parent coalition.” – Sam Joo

Through training with community members, partner organizations and participants, BSMLA hopes to deter violence within the home, improve family interactions and social connections/relationships, and address daily experiences with fear, feelings of powerlessness, and stigma. BSMLA aims to promote a culture of respect by identifying, understanding, and practicing family and community values that impact positive family and community interactions.

BSMLA’s partners include: KYCC, All People’s Community Center, California Science Center, Center for the Pacific Asian Family, Children’s Bureau, Esperanza Housing Corporation, KFAM, Pathways, Peace Over Violence, and Worksite Wellness LA.

Fall Festivals Were Amazing

Really. KYCC is a smile factory.

Papersave

The fiscal team is very excited to bring you Papersave – our brand new payment requisition and credit card charge submission and approval system. Yes, no more trips to the Admin office to drop off paperwork! There is a slight learning curve to the software, so please take a few minutes to watch this video, and bookmark it for future reference. If you have any questions, please contact me. We can even do a quick screen share to walk you through your first submissions, if needed. Also, please note that we will not be using Papersave for Petty Cash; for now, please process those as before. And if somehow you haven’t seen them yet, here are the new Project IDs and Account Codes, which can also be found on the Resources Section of this website.

New Hires

Goodbyes

Employee Spotlight

Mayra Jimenez – Prevention Education

Tell me how you first got involved with KYCC.
I heard about the job position from a friend of mine who worked for Youth Services. She was a Smith (where I went to college) alumnus. She told me that KYCC is a place that gives you opportunities, unlike other places. She said, “They will take a chance on you.”

What has surprised you most about working at KYCC?
What has surprised me the most was the diversity of staff. Different people–whether by ethnicities, personalities, or other factors–get along so well. KYCC is not exclusive and not dominated by one ethnic group. Even though people are different, everyone is here for the same reason—which to me is social justice and caring about the community.

What do you find the most challenging about your work?
Oftentimes, the issues we try to solve with the community are not the most pressing needs of the community. Here’s an example: we have a contract with Department of Public Health to reduce underage drinking. When we go into the community with this issue in mind, we are faced with myriads of other issues (often compounding) that the community has to deal with. Some of those examples are housing, homelessness, trash and gang-related crime. It is difficult to work on just ONE issue at a time. It’s difficult to educate people on the issue that we bring to the community. What’s more pressing? We have to think about this a lot.

What are the best/worst things to happen since you started working with KYCC?
Best: Having an open communication with other units. We work with over 90 liquor stores and they have a lot of issues with graffiti. We know the ES guys pretty well and that has been hugely helpful for us. They are generous with the paint buckets and have accompanied our outreach to remove graffiti near the stores. Another example is when YS needs people to pick up the kids at Wilton. They can count on the Wilton staff…we will always be there to support.
Worst: Ants! And also MSP being gone. Those middle school kids brought something unique to the site. I am sad about the empty Treehouse.

Which of your interests are growing or waning?
Growing: Fresh produce! Making an environmental impact on the community through retailers and businesses! I am also gaining more interest in policy. I used to hate policy, but I think I like it now because I understand it. PE is working on passing a citywide ordinance, which has demystifyed the city-level policy process. I am realizing that policy is more accessible. I am connecting the dots more.
Waning: I am letting go more and more of the thought that everyone needs to be on the same page. Sometimes, they just aren’t and I am learning to be okay with that.

If you weren’t working at KYCC, what would you be doing?
Coaching and playing more rugby, probably. I would be doing research for selfish reasons (chuckles). Personal interests on the topic. Being a hipster somewhere, disturbing the peace in a small white town (chuckles).

In doing community work, what sorts of trends do you see?
People fight for their communities! It feels sometimes like a competition, as in, who has the worst issues. Everyone is always starting their sentence with, “In my community, we are dealing with x, y, and z.” Younger people in the organizing community! There are many young people—millennials and younger in the cause-based and issue-based work. I think the younger generation is more interested in jobs that have bigger impact than for financial reasons. And…white people in the food justice movement (chuckles).

Volunteer Spotlight

Jennifer Vonghack, Kaiser Permanente

Jennifer and a group of Kaiser Permanente employees took a morning off to volunteer with ES, providing some much-needed maintenance for trees along Olympic Boulevard. Jennifer was kind enough to answer a few questions for us a few weeks after her service.

Please tell us a little about yourself.
My name is Jennifer Vonghack, and I work for Kaiser Permanente. My team is based in Burbank and we are analysts. I am a native of Los Angeles, consumer of pop culture, tacos and french fries. I enjoy completing the L.A. Times’ Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday crossword puzzles in pen (only because Thursday through Sunday’s crossword puzzles are too hard)!

What was it like volunteering?
My team and I volunteered for tree maintenance and light graffiti removal along Olympic Boulevard. Volunteering was a lot of fun! Lots of hard work was involved too, but I think everyone had a great time working together. I don’t think we expected to sweat as much as we did, but it was a lot of fun, so it didn’t seem like hard labor. Looking back at pictures, you see a lot of smiles, conversation, teamwork and laughter. I’m sure everyone already knows that Kaiser encourages everyone to thrive. I think this volunteer event allowed us to thrive as team and help the community, which both KYCC and Kaiser serve, to thrive. High Thrives for everyone? Ha. Please don’t put that in the newsletter.

How did you hear about KYCC?
I have a couple of friends who work/ed for KYCC, so they probably encouraged me at one point to like KYCC’s Facebook page. So coupled with my friends’ personal posts on KYCC and KYCC’s posts and updates on Facebook, I knew about KYCC and the services offered to the community.

What was one surprising thing about the event?
I never realized the “science”method of maintaining trees properly. I mean, who knew that a tree required a moat around the trunk so it won’t get wet? And the graffiti removal spray is like magic! I have driven up and down this portion of Olympic Boulevard many a time, to shop at Hannam Chain and Kim’s Home Center and I’ll be honest, I never noticed the trees, never noticed the graffiti. But not everyone goes up and down Olympic Boulevard in a car. A lot of people walk or sit at bus stops on Olympic Boulevard and they see the graffiti and the trees, which can be at times disheartening. It was really nice to contribute to an effort in which we helped beautify the streets. Walking back to our cars after lunch, the trees looked really nice with their mulching around the trunks.

Tell me something interesting about someone you met at the event.
I met Ryan and Jerry (of KYCC), who are great and patient with us newbie gardeners, as well as Dustin, who seems to be a finance whiz and professional photographer on the weekend. Also, it was cool to meet Garrett, who volunteered on his own. It was also a good time for me to bond and get to know people in my department. I am new to Kaiser, so it was nice to bond with people outside of my immediate team (but still in my department) in a setting outside of the office.

What made you choose to volunteer with KYCC over other opportunities?
I had seen posts on Facebook about tree planting events that KYCC was sponsoring, so I went on the website to see if there were any events coming up. Then I happened on the section where KYCC partners with companies to meet their community service goals. I thought, “Aha, perfect!” Plus, trees provide so many benefits to people and my company is all about helping our communities thrive. Also, tree maintenance is different from what my team has done in the past, so I thought why not?  

Birthdays and KYCC Anniversaries

Community News

Here's what you might have missed this month in Koreatown!

• This Koreatown liquor store stands out for fighting underage drinking (featuring our very own PE unit)
• Koreatown organizers call for a community center (featuring our very own Joanne Kim)
• Target to open a store in Koreatown... in 2018
• Yogaworks is opening a location in Koreatown (Editor's note: Dustin and Katherine have signed up, and you should too.)
• Volunteer this month with LTSC
• Homeless near Koreatown high school push community into an uncomfortable clash of values

Open Positions

Have some talented and driven friends? Let them know about our open positions.

• KT - Kids Town Preschool Director
• ES - Environmental Specialist - Graffiti Removal
• PE - Prevention Education Coordinator
• CED - Consumer Program Assistant
• ES - Community Engagement Coordinator
• YS - Middle School Instructor
• ES - Energy Conservation Trainee
• PE - Community Organizer (Bilingual Korean)
• CS - Counselor III
• YS - Academic Assistant Instructor

Volunteer Opportunities

Nov. 14 - Environmental Services
Time: TBD
Location: TBD
Community Cleanup. Contact Ryan Allen for more details.

Nov. 21 - Environmental Services
Time: 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Location: Vista Charter Middle School
Community Cleanup. Contact Ryan Allen for more details.

These events are also visible on the calendar. If you have a volunteer opportunity, please let me know!

Take Note!

"The 'non-profit' institution neither supplies goods or services nor controls. Its 'product' is neither a pair of shoes nor an effective regulation. Its product is a changed human being. The non-profit institutions are human-change agents. Their 'product' is a cured patient, a child that learns, a young man or woman grown into a self-respecting adult; a changed human life altogether." - Peter Drucker, Managing the Nonprofit Organization

Stay Fit, Even at Work

• Walk as much as possible! Try to walk during your lunch break. If you drive to work, park farther away and also take the stairs, rather than escalators and elevators.
• Move around the office! It's important to break the habit of a sedentary lifestyle every one to two hours. What that means is getting up off your behind every time your clock strikes the next hora! And instead of phoning a coworker in the office, walk to her desk in person, and take the time to get up and stretch whenever you can.

If you have any comments, suggestions, concerns, or questions feel free to contact us. Or join the discussion and leave a comment in the box below!