KRC organizes a group of 60 Korean American seniors (previously known as Community Health Promoters) who meet monthly to learn about health, community issues, and to take action and bring change to the community.
Seniors had a big role in fighting back against the anti-immigrant wave of “Welfare Reform” of 1996, and took a lead in demanding fully fledged language interpretation and translation in government programs like Medicare Part D and Medi-Cal. Seniors also stood for the community in stopping budget cuts on services serving low-income community members, expanding affordable housing opportunities in Koreatown, restoring the dental benefits component of the Medi-Cal program, and the DREAM Act and immigration reform.
The group meets monthly and will be meeting on June 28, 10am at KRC's office at 900 Crenshaw Blvd. In our June meeting, we will continue discussing ideas to address the housing crisis in Los Angeles. The following meeting will be on July 26.
The meeting agenda consists of: sharing children's folk songs; KRC's activities and the results of the June LAUSD elections; discussing our responses to the housing crisis; and community announcements. (Feel free to promote other nonprofit group events or local cultural events).
Previous Month's Meeting Recap
Measure EE for Education
At our May meeting, we learned about the June 4 LAUSD elections, and how passing Measure EE can strengthen education and improve things for Los Angeles. We also practiced how to talk to other people to persuade people to get out to vote.
Thousands of community members called voters and visited voters to talk about the measure, but facing a strong opposition campaign from the real estate industry and large corporations Measure EE received only 46% of the vote and did not pass. (We needed a 2/3 majority to pass the measure.) Voter turnout was 18%.
We are not stopping here - we continue to engage in the conversation to secure funding for education and needed government services for our communities. As we continue to push forward for fair tax policies that fund education and government services, we ask you to stay with us through the work.
What do you think will be needed so that people of color communities - Korean Americans, latinx, black communities - participate in elections in large scales and make our voices heard?
Housing Crisis
We also discussed in depth about the housing crisis in Los Angeles. As rent prices rise, many are applying for low-income or senior housing. But because there are so few available, many wait in a waiting list for 2 to 10 years. Some apartments do not even allow people to be on waiting lists because the existing waiting list is so long. Sometimes making a mistake in document handling will force people to wait longer. Some people manage to get by with the help of friends of family, but not everyone can get help - and some people may end up in the streets as homeless.
At the senior meeting, we discussed ideas to address this issue. Among the ideas were transparency - releasing publically the waiting list members and the waiting list process, publicizing how many low-income units are available in each non-low income apartments, building more affordable housing (low-income and senior), and many others.
How can we create a city where people can live without worrying about rent prices? We will continue to discuss this issue in our next meeting and share ideas on what we can do.