Contact: Daehyeon Choi, 703-354-6345 (X117)
KCSC is funded by the National Council on Aging (NCOA) to serve eligible Medicare beneficiaries, which include 65+ seniors and adults, aged 21-64, who are living with disabilities. Eligibility is based on the individual’s income and resource guidelines. This program’s goal is to help Medicare beneficiaries enroll into at least one of five “core benefits”, including: Medicare Part D Extra Help (Low Income Subsidy – LIS); Medicare Savings Programs (MSP); Medicaid; SNAP; and/or LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program).
For this program, KCSC has partnered with the Chinese Culture and Community Service Center (CCACC) and the Association for Vietnamese Americans (AVA) enabling KCSC’s BEC to serve and provide bilingual and bicultural services to Korean, Chinese, and Vietnamese Medicare beneficiaries.
Contact: Daehyeon Choi, 703-354-6345 (X117)
Since 2016, the National Council on Aging (NCOA) has funded Korean Community Service Center (KCSC) and its subcontractors, Chinese Culture and Community Service Center, Inc. (CCACC) and the Association for Vietnamese Americans (AVA), to educate the Asian community about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). KCSC, CCACC, and AVA provide culturally/linguistically appropriate outreach and assistance to enroll/renew SNAP applications for Korean, Chinese, and Vietnamese beneficiaries. The Senior SNAP Enrollment Initiative specifically focuses on eligible seniors, aged 60+, residing in the Metropolitan Washington DC area including: Montgomery County and Prince George’s County in MD, Washington DC, and Fairfax County, Arlington County, Prince William County, Loudoun County, and the independent cities of Alexandria, Fairfax City, Falls Church, Manassas, and Manassas City Park in VA.
For those who are eligible, the rates of SNAP participation in the Metro DC are relatively low, ranging from 37.8% for VA (coming in 28th place among all US states) to 40.3% for MD residents (coming in at 19th place among all US states). For households that fall below 200% of FPL, Maryland has the nation’s 8th highest food insecurity rate among those who are 60+ (18.69%). While hard data is quite difficult to aggregate, anecdotally, we know that the SNAP participation rates among the Asian population are even lower as a result of cultural and linguistic barriers and the stigma associated with using SNAP.
Many elderly Asians are isolated and lack access to benefits such as SNAP. A lack of awareness of available services and resources, limited English proficiency, and significant cultural barriers cause many immigrants to underutilize crucial public benefits for which they are eligible. Misinformation about eligibility criteria, privacy concerns, and insecurities about immigration status are also major obstacles to accessing SNAP.
KCSC’s Senior SNAP service provides ongoing critically needed community outreach and education to counter misinformation and help those who are in need and eligible to enroll in SNAP and reduce their food insecurity.
Contact : Ingook Park, 703-354-6345 (X123)
KCSC’s Job Readiness Project is designed for Asian American job seekers who wish to increase their job readiness skills and know-how to equip them for employment in the metro DC area and help them plan for a US-based career.
KCSC’s Job Readiness Project helps participants improve their skills prior to (and after) employment. Services include career seminars, job preparation workshops, individual job counseling, and job readiness English classes and computer classes.
KCSC also cooperates with the SkillSource One-Stop Employment Center in Virginia and Worksource Montgomery in Maryland. KCSC assist to initial screening to job seekers and refer to Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) program for job training opportunities. KCSC’s Job-readiness project is funded by Fairfax County’s Consolidated Community Funding Pool (CCFP) in Virginia and through Montgomery County funding in Maryland.
Contact: Jae Won Yang, 703-354-6345 (X112)