KKOOM’s former preschool scholars Minnie & Harmony pose for a photo after attending school in December 2022
The KKOOM Board of Directors recently did a SWOT analysis of our organization. It is an activity we do every few years to see what are our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. With three pages filled with feedback from our all women-board members, we are excited to look for new opportunities to grow our impact.
As an organization that was founded in 2007 fifteen years ago, we have provided college and preschool scholarships for children at three KKOOM-supported children’s homes. One of our strengths is our strong relationships with the staff at the children’s homes where there is trust, accountability, and community to support Korean youth. While we celebrate this strength, we also see an opportunity to provide more scholarships to toddlers beyond our personal network of children’s homes.
In 2023, I will be working actively to identify volunteers or trusted individuals at other children’s homes so we can make more dreams possible for toddlers so they can get an early start to their education. We currently do not have any children that fits the age range to be eligible for the preschool scholarship at a KKOOM-supported children’s home. We anticipate that an eight-month-old who arrived last year will hopefully start preschool this fall semester.
Most children in South Korea start their education at two-years-old, but the Korean government does not provide funding for toddlers living in the social welfare system to attend school until they are four-years-old. This educational gap is funded by KKOOM because of you, your generosity, and your unconditional love to believe in their futures.
By the end of the year, we hope to have an update for you saying we reached our goal of growing our impact to support preschool scholarships at more children’s homes. Thanks to you, we can believe in the possibilities of providing equal access to an education for children who deserve it the most.
With gratitude,
– Grace Lee, Executive Director
