KOREAN COMMUNITY CENTER OF THE EAST BAY
Programs
Community Support for Asian Immigrants
Since 1977, Korean Community Center of the East Bay (KCCEB) has been uniquely positioned to serve the Asian community in the Bay Area. After the 1965 Immigration Act which allowed for an influx of immigrants from Asia, KCCEB was one of five Bay Area organizations developed in the 1970s to support the resettlement and community health of Asian immigrants and refugees. KCCEB has evolved into a unique entry point for Korean and other immigrant and undocumented children, youth, adults, families and seniors who have nowhere else to turn to for their essential support, including health access, social and legal counseling and case management, mental health, tobacco cessation education and intimate personal violence support.The ProgramsKCCEB is currently composed of three divisions namely the Immigration Integration Program, the Community Health Access Program, and the Community Wellness Program. The Immigration Integration Program creates access to legally authorized no to low-cost immigration services that are needed for immigrants to transition into American life and become engaged members of society. The Community Health Access Program creates access to affordable health care and social services including healthcare enrollment and literacy education, social service support, case management, and health promotion to seniors, a Korean language information and referral service, and community capacity building through the development of health advocates. The Community Wellness Program is a newly established program addressing the mental health and substance use prevention needs of Asians in North Alameda County. The program raises mental health awareness, reduces mental health stigma with attention to cultural affinities and values of monolingual low-income East Asians (e.g., Korean, Chinese, and Mongolians), as well as offering tobacco intervention programs.1. COMMUNITY HEALTH ACCESS DIVISIONBAKI is the Bay Areas only Korean language toll-free navigation phone line. We provide information, referrals, and navigation in Korean on various government safety net services in the Bay Area including social services, housing, and health care, etc. Our goal is to help community members navigate services and advocate for themselves in accessing needed services.Social Services & Health Insurance Program helps individuals fill out government social services and health forms, navigate the application process and access services. Services provided in Korean, Cantonese, Khmer, Mandarin, Tagalog, and English.Health Navigation: Enrollment and navigation support for health care programs for low-income families and individuals: Covered CA, Medi-Cal, MedicareSocial Services: Information and application support for various government benefit programs: Affordable Housing, CalFresh, SSI, CAPI, UISENIOR SUPPORTSenior Case Management Program provides home visits, daily functioning care plans, wellness checks, coordination of social services, and referrals to low-income Korean and other Asian elders age 60+. We also assist individuals with senior housing applications and enrollment in government public benefit programs including cash assistance, Medi-cal and CalFresh. Provided over the phone during COVID-19.JiKimee Senior Leadership ProgramJikimee means Community Protector in Korean. Jikimee Senior Leadership Program cultivates community mental health leaders among monolingual Korean seniors. Jikimee sessions provide a culturally and linguistically responsive environment to explore issues important to the Korean community.Our Jikimee leaders attend public meetings and join legislative visits to voice community needs, volunteer at cultural, community and wellness events, and support our programs. On hold during COVID-19.Tai Ji Quan: Moving for Better BalanceMoving For Better Balance is a 12-week evidence-based fall prevention program based on the Simplified 24-form Tai Ji Quan. This course combines traditional Chinese Taiji movements and modern science to help seniors improve their balance, muscle strength, flexibility and mobility, and internal organ functioning to enhance overall health. KCCEB partners with Alameda County senior serving organizations to offer classes in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin and with translation in other languages. Offered online or outdoors following social distancing guidelines during COVID-19.2. IMMIGRATION INTEGRATION DIVISIONImmigration Service is an appointment-only legal consultation including naturalization, re-entry permit, green card renewal, and adjustment of status. KCCEB is the only Department of Justice accredited Korean community-based organization in the Bay Area.1.This service is offered to all immigrants in English or Korean. You may bring an interpreter for other languages2.Fee waivers and fee reductions are available for low-income peopleGroup Citizenship Workshops: This partnership with the East Bay Naturalization Collaborative and Ready Bay Area (DACA) Collaborative offers individuals who cannot come into appointments and/or cannot afford attorney consultations.Citizenship/ESL Class: This partnership with the Intercultural Institute of California (IIC) is available for Korean and other immigrants. Having a Legal Permanent Resident (LPR) status is required for the class. All clients receiving our N400 form filing service will be eligible to enroll.3. THE COMMUNITY WELLNESS DIVISIONSupportive Counseling Program offers free up to 12 months of service to Alameda County residents who are youths, adults, and seniors. Service is confidential. No insurance required. We specialize in working with East Asian communities: Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, and Mongolian. Our counselors speak Korean, Cantonese, Khmer, Mandarin, Tagalog, and English. Other languages are available with Language Line interpretation.Shimtuh is a culturally and linguistically-specific confidential crisis support program for domestic violence survivors. including. We provide clients information, short-term counseling, and referrals to case management and mental health treatment services that address survivor safety, housing, and other social issues. Offered online during COVID-19.Wellness WorkshopsKCCEB offers an array of wellness workshops in English, Korean and Mandarin with an Asian cultural perspective.Topics include:Stress managementCoping with anxiety and depressionTrauma-Informed care in API communitiesCommunication skills to promote healthy bondingEarly childhood development for parentsHealthy eating and active living among eldersManaging burnout and compassion fatigueMany more.Young Asian American Storytellers! (YAAS!) empowers Asian youth in Oakland through storytelling and connection to their own culture.In 2019-2020, 8 youth from Oakland Charter School learned digital media and leadership skills through project-based learning. They created two digital stories:2020 Census for Asian Youth informing Asian American youth about the CensusPerfection exploring the Model Minority Myth\Tobacco InterventionData for California indicates that over half of non-smoking Korean Americans in California have reported Second-hand Smoke (SHS) exposure, with 60.4% reporting daily exposure in 2009. In fact, according to the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS 2011- 2012), non-smoking Korean Americans reported the highest rate of SHS exposure compared to all other ethnic/racial groups. Non-smoking limited English proficient (LEP) Korean American women reported the highest rate of SHS exposure at home (29%) compared to all other ethnic/racial groups combined (4%). Over the past year and a half, KCCEB has been working with UCSF (Dr. Janice Tsoh)on two tobacco-cessation related interventions (funded by CPCRP and TRDRP) using lay health workers to provide health education information about tobacco cessation to Korean dyads (one non-smoker and one smoker pair).We learned that for Koreans, smoking seems to be related to immigrant stressors (work, loneliness, money), and a tobacco-cessation intervention should be factor in sociocultural root causes, in addition to health education.Local researcher, Dr. Vicky Gomez at SJSU, has shown how creating digital stories with participation by community members has been shown to be one methodology that can potentially impact health behavior change. Gomez recently won an award at American Public Health Association for Health Promotion Materials Contest for digital stories promoting colorectal cancer screening among Latinos in a church setting and found that storytelling was a promising way of passing along health education in an accessible manner and engaged the community in designing the intervention. Given the nature of digital stories to share information in a way that connects through emotions, is peer-led by community members directly impacted by tobacco, and is accessible (people can watch at their own time, in the privacy of their own home, do not need to make appointments).Supported by Alameda County public heaGeographiesNot indicatedDatesJul 1, 2020 – Jun 30, 2021Source990No causes providedNo populations provided–$1.7MChinese Caregiver Support App
Chinese Caregiver Support APPThe We CARE app being developed in Spring of 2020 aims to support reducingburnout and compassion fatigue among LEP Chinese caregivers providing carefor an elder family member suffering from dementia. The Chinese languageapp focuses on: 1) Signs and Symptoms Awareness of caregiver burnout andcompassion fatigue; 2) Motivational Guidance to normalize caregiver stressors;and 3) Resource Sharing of critical information and resources for caregiversand seniors with dementia. KCCEB is collaborating with DigiOxide for theapp development.Korean Business Support APPCommunity Thrive is a mobile app being developed in Spring of 2020 to supportlimited English proficient (LEP) Korean small business owners with recentexposure to workplace and community violence. The Korean language appfocuses on: 1) Incident Assessment of damages, physical and psychological injuryafter being exposed to violence; 2) Resources and Education Awareness neededafter one has been exposed to violence or is a victim of crime; and 3) Public SafetyEngagement with the broader community. KCCEB is collaborating with DigiOxidefor the app development.4. SPECIAL PROGRAMS in 2020(Jan-June)CENSUS 2020 The decennial census is one of the most critical civic engagement efforts to ensure inclusion and visibility of citizens and non-citizens in the United States. It impacts demographic statistics, political representation and government funding distributions.KCCEB is the lead agency for the seven-member RICE Collaborative (Refugee Immigrant Census Engagement) who is collectively conducting outreach, education and form filling assistance for hard-to-count LEP populations in 17 languages.5. COVID-19 PROGRAMSAs part of the Bay K Coalition, KCCEB provides support for the most affected members of our community including elders, small business owners, low-wage workers and undocumented persons through: Virtual Legal Clinics, providing legal consultations on tenant issues, small business loans and unemployment insurance, in partnership with the Korean American Bar Association of Northern California; Senior Wellness Assessments, a phone campaign toassess seniors needs and connect them to resources; and Give a Meal of Love Campaign, a meal delivery initiative to homebound Korean seniors. This effort was made possible thanks to over 200 Korean American volunteers in the Bay Area.Essential Information Hub was created for Korean-language essential information on Health and Safety Tips and Essential Community Resources. This information is available through our partnership with the Bay Area K Coalition including KCI, KACF-SF, and our volunteer task force.Senior Check-in Calls: In response to COVID-19, we have called over 550 isolated Korean seniors throughout the Bay Area. In the call, we checked in with seniors health, safety, wellness, and access to food and personal protective equipment.Give a Meal of Love is a free warm meal delivery to isolated Korean seniors in the East Bay area. This campaign is made possible with partnerships from the Bay Area K Coalition, World Central Kitchen, KACF-SF, East Bay Korean American Senior Center, SF New Deal, KCI, over 65 volunteers, and eight Korean restaurants. Our campaign has delivered 31,200 warm meals to over 603 homebound Korean monolingual seniors in the East Bay. We also supported meal delivery to over 150 Korean seniors in SF.GeographiesNot indicatedDatesJul 1, 2020 – Jun 30, 2021Source990No causes providedNo populations provided––
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