Support for Korean Youth Aging Out of Care

Summer vacation gives our KKOOM college scholars a chance to take a break from school to make more time for leisure activities. Minyeal, an Applied Music major, had a busy summer helping to open a coffee shop with a friend, attending a summer retreat, and volunteering at a children’s home that assists children with physical and cognitive challenges. Here’s a chance to hear more about these activities, getting a better glimpse of Minyeal’s personality as he strives to give back to others. 

Somang Church is located in the Gyeongsangbuk-do region of South Korea where many young adults from Samsungwon attend. They serve in leadership roles, leading worship either singing, playing the drums, or playing keyboard / piano. Jaeho is one of the adults who leads worship at Somang Church. He grew up at Samsungwon and now has a family of his own with two children. In August 2019, he opened a coffee shop on the first floor of the Somang Church building. The name of the coffee shop means “Good Coffee” in English. 

Having done all of the renovation from scratch, Minyeal helped Jaeho build the coffee shop. Instead of buying hardwood flooring and shelves, Jaeho found all the materials for free, on the side of the road. The shelves came from separate parts, so the two of them assembled the shelves together and painted them all black to give them a clean, polished look. One of the most important roles Minyeal had was sampling the drinks before the coffee shop opened. It’s not easy to make the perfect vanilla latte so Minyeal’s opinions was helpful in making the coffee shop successful. 

Every summer, the young adults who have aged out of Samsungwon meet up to have a family reunion. This year, they went to Pohang to enjoy the beach and each other’s company. With more than 30 people attending, Minyeal enjoyed sharing new and past memories with brothers and sisters he grew up with. KKOOM helps pay some of the costs of their annual summer retreat to continue showing them the importance of community and family. 

Minyeal volunteers on a regular basis at Aemangwon, one of the children’s homes we support with KKOOM outreach. With his strong connections to the staff, he coordinated a visit for KKOOM’s Chief Administrator and seven volunteers in August 2019. The volunteers included other young adults from Samsungwon, Fulbright Korea English Teachers, and former KKOOM volunteers. We stayed at Aemangwon about two hours and played with the children in two different rooms, ages ranging from nine years old to twenty-four years old. Minyeal helped feed lunch to the teens / young adults in their 20s who are unable to walk. 

While Minyeal continues to stay busy, he serves with humility to spread joy and compassion to others. We are grateful for your continued support to allow Minyeal to grow in his leadership skills and to complete his Bachelor’s degree. Your generosity gives Minyeal confidence to continue giving his best in his classes, amidst a busy schedule. Thank you for believing in Minyeal’s potential to reach his dreams.