photos.kyccla.orgK-TOWN Portraits: Jose and Celeste of Paseo Chapin

You're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer. Please upgradeon our site. Thank you. K-TOWN IS YOUR TOWN Portraits of KOREATOWN Jose and Celeste Jose and his mother Celeste own Paseo Chapin, a Guatemalan restaurant in MacArthur Park, since 1982. Paseo… Angela Angela works at a Korean newspaper in Koreatown, where she oversees the website and other media.… Jane Doe Jane Doe is a mother of two children. She currently runs a clothing business in Koreatown.… Jennifer Jennifer Lopez is a 66-year-old woman who immigrated to the United States in 1979 when she… Jong Jong P. is a 75-year-old senior who is currently living in the Menlo Family Apartments with… Sung Sung L. is a 65-year-old senior who is currently residing in the Menlo Family Apartments with… Andrew Andrew C. is 25 years old and was previously in several homeless shelters until he found… Sean Sean is a volunteer with KYCC’s Youth Services, where he tutors students one-on-one with homework help.… Gilbert Gilbert K. is an elder resident at Menlo Family Apartments, as well as a father to… Tae Mi K. Jane Doe is a 51-year-old woman who has lived in Koreatown for 19 years. She immigrated to the United States from Seoul, Korea in 2001. In order to assimilate into the new culture and adjust into a new lifestyle, Jane attended multiple ESL classes, met new people through church, and found solace in Christianity. Jane describes the ups and downs of living in Koreatown and reflects on how the town has changed since she immigrated here.… P. Joe P. Joe is the senior pastor at Holy Gospel Church* and the academic chief officer at New Life School*. Joe immigrated to Koreatown in 1989, and having lived in Koreatown for over 30+ years, Joe has both seen it all: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Koreatown is not only his home, but it is within this community where he received his spiritual calling to pursue ministry and pursued his passions of education, mentorship, and leadership in the community. … Hannah Haein Kim Hannah Kim is a senior at CalState LA majoring in Computer Information Systems. She is also… Catherine C. After living most of her life in the Philippines and working nearly a decade in Singapore,… Sara S. Sara S. is a 42-year-old mother of two daughters: a high school freshman and a high… Marilyn Marilyn is the Elementary Program Lead Teacher at KYCC’s Menlo Family Center. She was raised in… Mia Giambalvo Mia Giambalvo is a highschool sophomore at Larchmont Charter School. She’s been going to school in Koreatown for about 4 years. She has taken an active role in improving the community. She is very involved in her school’s Community Service committee and is a member of the Girls Build LA club which works on different projects to help the neighborhood. She has been working as a waitress at the Solheim Lutheran Retirement Home in Eagle Rock during this COVID-19 Pandemic. She volunteered there many times before officially getting a job. She hands out meals for the residents and helps out in the kitchen. It has proved to be a very meticulous and important job amid the pandemic as most of the residents are at risk. … Gina Kim Gina Kim was born and raised in Koreatown. She is a recent high school graduate and was planning on going to Yale in the fall to study English, but due to COVID-19, has been forced to take a gap year. Her passions include writing, photography, and film. Some of her work can be viewed in her online portfolio at mijin.org. … On Hee On Hee Hwang is a 49 year old mother of a UCLA college-graduate son and a daughter who is a senior. She is the co-owner and works as a hairstylist at Tiji Hair Salon, which is located in Koreatown. She immigrated to the United States with her family from Ulsan, South Korea, and has been living in Koreatown for the past decade. Her hair salon was closed for the past two to three months due to pandemic. However, she reopened for the first time in the past three weeks, but needs to close her salon again due to the rising number of COVID19 cases. … Chaerin Chaerin is a junior at New Covenant Academy in Koreatown. She was born in Ulsan, Korea, but came to Koreatown, Los Angeles when she was three years old. She has been living in Koreatown for 13-14 years, but she does not know the history and the background of Koreatown. She is very interested in photography because she loves taking pictures of her family members, friends, food, and herself. She is a starting setter on the school volleyball team and she loves dancing to K-Pop and Hip-Hop music. She has been a member of a dance team for four years and won many competitions. In the future, she hopes to become a pediatric nurse. … Abigail Abigail is a rising senior at LACES in Mid-City, Los Angeles. She has been a staff writer for her school paper for three years now and is now the copy editor and page editor for the paper. Abigail has lived in Koreatown for her entire life. She has a passion for baking, reading, and creative writing. She’s fluent in English and Korean and has been taking Spanish at her school for four years now. She’s the President of BRIDGE, a high-school volunteering program at KYCC and she also works at SulBeans, a dessert cafe in Koreatown. In the future, she hopes to go into Communications or Political Science.… Sally Sally is a sophomore at the Larchmont Charter School in Los Angeles. She is currently the head of the first Journalism club at her school and the editor of the yearbook. She has taken many classes involving photography and filmmaking. She is very politically active and partakes in various service activities. She tries to limit her impact on the environment by being a pescatarian and thrifting clothes to continue to fuel her love of fashion. Some of her favorite things include rain, sunsets, scented candles, and the beach. She hopes to find an intersection between political journalism and photography for her future career. Unlike other participants in this project, Sally hasn’t been a part of the Koreatown community for long. But now, Koreatown has become a big part of her life, making her experience in Koreatown unique and different from others.… Cailey Cailey Beck is a rising senior at New Covenant Academy and lives in Little Bangladesh, Koreatown. As an extremely introspective girl, she loves to read, study the world, and learn about global issues. She’s involved in a wide array of extracurriculars, such as being a writer/editor for New Covenant Academy’s newspaper, The Husky Herald; a secretary in the student council; a starter on New Covenant Academy’s Varsity Girls Volleyball Team; and a member of the yearbook committee. In her free time, Cailey enjoys writing for her blog, working on short stories or scripts, watching movies, and reading. She hopes to attend UC Berkeley and wants to major in Philosophy.… Hewan Hewan is a first-year student at UC Merced majoring in Bioengineering. After emigrating to the U.S.… Justin Justin is a former KYCC youth program participant who volunteered at TEAM and LEAD—two Youth Services… Martin Martin Carpio is a rising high school junior at Larchmont Charter School and a participant in… Crystal Crystal is a junior attending New Covenant Academy and a participant in the Koreatown Storytelling Project.… Yushin Yushin is a junior at New Covenant Academy in Los Angeles and a participant in the… Sam Sam is a second-generation small business owner in Koreatown. His parents have owned and operated Arado… Jin Jin was the longtime owner of AB Motors Group, Inc., a car dealership in Koreatown that… Soweto Soweto has been a resident at the Menlo Family Apartments since the building opened in 2013.… RFX1 RFX1 is the designer and artist behind the mental health awareness mural at Los Angeles High… Harrison Harrison was raised—and still resides—in Los Angeles’s Koreatown. He graduated in 2018 from the University of… Blanca Blanca has been the KYCC Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)...