LOS ANGELES, CA – On Thursday, October 20, 2016, the Korean Resource Center (KRC) hosted an Early Vote Town Hall at Trinity Central Lutheran Church in Koreatown for over 200 Korean speaking senior citizens and other new immigrant voters to navigate the voting process, understand ballot initiatives and candidates, and provide assistance with completing vote-by-mail applications. To prepare for the event, a volunteer group of Korean American senior citizen members of KRC contacted more than 5,000 individuals by phone and conducting outreach at churches, supermarkets, and senior housing apartments. As a result of their tenacity, over 170 senior citizens completed their vote-by-mail ballots while others received help with voter registration.
Grayce Liu, General Manager for the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment for the City of Los Angeles, spoke at the town hall, emphasizing the importance of civic engagement and how events like these strengthen democracy. Myong Shim Lee, KRC Community Organizing Manager, added to this saying, “After daily visits and calls from senior citizens in Koreatown with questions about this year’s election, KRC decided to hold the Early Vote Town Hall to address their concerns, ensure their voices are heard during this political process, and empower our communities with language access services.”
Over the past 3 months, KRC volunteers and staff registered over 6,500 young, senior, and first time voters in Los Angeles and Orange County and have reached out to 75,500 voters across the state of California urging them to vote on November 8th. Volunteers in this important program include millennials, immigrants, and senior citizens working side by side. KRC plays a critical role in California’s civic engagement landscape as a local and national leader in voter registration and is a provider of much needed services to thousands of low-income, immigrant families and individuals.
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Korean Resource Center
The Korean Resource Center is a non-profit community organization empowering low-income immigrants, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and people of color communities in Southern California. Using a holistic approach, we integrate services, education, culture, organizing, and coalition building.
