OAKWOOD STATION : ‘A Place for People to Share Their Heart’

As the Rev. Hyun Seung Yang oversaw the distribution of food through the Korean American Food and Shelter Service he marveled at the “invisible reconstruction” going on in this small corner of the city.

“People talk about the effort to rebuild L. A. in terms of the visible rebuilding of structures, but this is where the real process of healing and building for the future is taking place,” Yang said of the food bank open each weekday in the parking lot of the Oriental Mission Church.

As he spoke, elderly Korean-American women walked by with boxes of food balanced on their heads while two African-American men who had waited in line for bags of groceries volunteered to load food into a car for another needy family.

“Look at that,” Yang said, pointing to the newly recruited volunteers. “We get lip service from politicians, but this is real service here. This is a place for people to share their heart. This isn’t just a place for distributing food. It’s a place for distributing hope, for sharing anger and for listening.”

Among the relief efforts that sprang up around the city were one in the Radio Korea parking lot on Olympic Boulevard in Westlake and another at the Oriental Mission Church, 424 N. Western Ave.

By the end of May, the two efforts merged at the church site, and in June they incorporated as a nonprofit organization, the Korean American Food and Shelter Service (KAFSS).

Between 800 and 1,000 families receive food and social service referrals each week through the organization, Yang said.

Though most are Korean-Americans who lost their stores or jobs in the riots, about 20% are African-American, Latino and Anglo, he said.

Each day, about 30 to 40 volunteers, including senior citizens and riot victims, help food recipients with applications and distribute food and other items donated by local businesses, grocery stores and individuals.

The selection varies; on one recent afternoon donations included apple sauce, peanut butter, corn meal, rice, canned vegetables, plums, a soy drink, baby formula and diapers.

Some stores would like to donate more produce and frozen foods, Yang said, but the organization lacks refrigeration facilities. “We need storage space, refrigerators and a permanent place for our operation,” said Yang, who is pastor of the Yet United Methodist Church and a Red Cross consultant.

A new facility for KAFSS is only one part of Yang’s vision, which includes more resources for job training and counseling, a homeless shelter, education programs, Spanish-speaking volunteers and greater outreach beyond the Korean-American community.

“When the government officials declared an end to the emergency, I cried out, ‘Here is still an emergency!’ ” Yang said. “Here on the front line we can see that people are still suffering.”

Su Jik Park, whose clothing store on Western Avenue was destroyed during the riots, said she depends on the organization for her survival.

“I have no job now,” she said. “Many people I know come here for help. First we thank Jesus, but second we thank Rev. Yang.”

The volunteers share Yang’s compassion for the people who line up each day for help. Soo Hyang Oh, a volunteer office administrator, said she never used to think much about community affairs.

But after the riots, “I wanted to give back to other people,” she said. “Many people who had the ‘American dream’ lost everything and the government hasn’t helped them.”

In the small community Yang has pulled together, good deeds are returned in kind. Not long ago, volunteers were treated to a snack of yot , a sticky Korean taffy, made by a group of women who had received the ingredients a few days before at the church.

“We lost something during the riots, but as a community we are also learning some new things now about sharing and reconciliation,” Yang said.

Information: (213) 464-4949.