Korean Community Development Services Center was established to assist newly-arrived Asian American immigrants and refugees with cultural and language barriers in overcoming their barriers and adjusting to their new country. KCDSC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit community service organization that is designed as a one-stop service center to serve the needs of newly-arrived immigrants and refugees as well as other low-income minority group members. The service area is the greater Philadelphia area which includes the Pennsylvania counties of Philadelphia, Bucks, Montgomery and Delaware. However, the primary focus area is the Philadelphia County which includes the neighborhoods of Olney, Logan, East and West Oak Lane, and Lower Northeast.

Description:
KCDSC began its service operation in 1985 with one part-time staff member with a budget of $13,000 and revenue of $24,000 and the budget for 2006 was $952,500 with revenue of $1,216,432 and a staff of 52. KCDSC has gradually established a comprehensive community service program which includes job counseling and placement, a child care center, two after-school tutoring programs for children, a summer youth employment, adult literacy education, elderly social security and medicaid services, housing counseling and development. In 2006, Career-Link, the job program, provided counseling and placement services for over 1,000 individuals. The housing counseling provided assistance for 300 first-time home buyers. KCDSC established a home repair program with funding support from the City of Philadelphia. Further, the housing development program acquired and renovated 58 vacant houses for low-to-moderate-income first-time home buyers for the past seven years.

History:
In 1984, it was organized as a crime prevention and community relations organization and it was called Korean Crime Prevention Committee but the purpose of the organization was changed to serve the needs of the community members who need assistance in making necessary adjustment to their new society. Thus the name was changed to Korean Community Development Services Center (KCDSC) in 1985.

Contact people:

Michael Rapaport, Program Administrator, (phone), (email) Jin Yu, Executive Director, (phone), (email)

Office fax number: (215) 224-8150

Address:

6055 N. 5th Street Philadelphia, PA 19120 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.koreancenter.org

Miscellaneous Information

Are court referrals welcomed?
	Yes