KARSH FAMILY SOCIAL SERVICE CENTER INC

The Karsh Family Social Service Center (Karsh Center) was founded in 2016 by Wilshire Boulevard Temple, an organization with a 150-year legacy of community service, in response to the extraordinary needs of those living in and around the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles. A non-sectarian 501(c)(3), our mission is to improve the lives of the underserved by providing critical and accessible social services through direct service or in collaboration with other providers, while also integrating significant volunteer opportunities to create a uniquely powerful way to help repair the world.

Karsh Center supports community members in navigating complex social service and public benefit systems to receive the support they need to thrive. Koreatown is one of the densest and most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the nation – and one of the most economically challenged areas in Los Angeles. Almost a quarter of households are below the Federal Poverty Level, and one in three households experience food insecurity. Our clients reflect the diversity of the area, with 53% being Hispanic/Latinx and 37% Asian/Pacific Islander. Karsh Center serves clients of all ages, a majority of whom identify as female. Many are immigrants who speak Spanish or Korean at home and report difficulty accessing affordable social services, as well as difficulty finding culturally and linguistically appropriate resources. Karsh Center clients report experiencing multiple interconnected challenges, and benefit from greater assistance in navigating appropriate social services.

Karsh Center seeks to improve our community’s well-being, recognizing that our city
will thrive when all individuals are able to access the resources they need to feel safe, stable, and engaged. Collaborating with other organizations to identify and solve community problems, we offer a wide range of cross-sector services without duplication. With a network of 40+ mission-aligned providers and 470+ volunteers, we serve low-income community members both on-site and via referral in four key program areas:

1) Food and Nutrition Security: While food security programs have traditionally focused on hunger alone, Karsh Center’s following programs emphasize access, education, and affordability of foods that promote well-being through the following programs:
-On-Site Food Pantry: Provides high-quality nutritionally-balanced groceries containing protein and at least four fresh fruits and vegetables to hundreds of families twice a week.
-Karsh Mobile: Our mobile food pantry delivers nutritionally balanced grocery bags and critical supplies bi-weekly to individuals with barriers to transportation.
-Sunday-morning prep kitchen with The People Concern: We organize volunteers and provide approximately 800 lunch bags and supplies monthly to individuals experiencing homelessness.
-Food Education: In collaboration with FEAST, we administer 16-week virtual nutrition education classes combining food education and access to healthy foods.
-Events & Programs: This includes our annual “Big Give” Thanksgiving event distributing 4,000 meals, as well as hygiene kits, blankets, and flu shots; and our Back-to-school program.

2) Health and Wellness: Our Care Coordination Program helps individuals and families navigate the interconnected challenges associated with poverty and supports the well-being of our community through a collaborative goal setting and treatment planning process. Karsh Center also connects clients to health services provided by Collaborators, including:
-Comprehensive dental and vision care provided on-site at Karsh Center by KHEIR
-Mental health support by Southern California Counseling Center, Amanecer, and Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services
-On-site preventative care including periodic flu and COVID-19 vaccination clinics

3) Child and Parent Well-Being: This program area offers critical supplies, resources and education programs at no cost to parents and caretakers to support the development of their child(ren) via educational workshops and events including: Parent groups and child playgroups and workshops, which include curated activities and collaborative projects for children and parents to foster social-emotional development and a sense of community among participants. Our family events, include holiday toy drives and a Ready for Kindergarten resource fair.

4) Community Services: In direct response to community need, Karsh Center offers families and individuals access to additional services such as:
-Legal resources: Free consultations, legal referrals, and legal educational workshops help clients navigate a range of issues, including immigration, housing rights, and family law.
-Karsh Community Technology Center: The Technology Center helps bridge the digital divide by offering a safe space with access to computers and reliable internet, as well as multi-lingual support staff. In collaboration with Los Angeles Community College, Karsh Center also offers computer literacy and English as a second language (ESL) classes. Access to technology is vital to civic engagement, telehealth, interpersonal communication, news distribution, and small business and community resilience.

In 2024, Karsh Center expanded its capacity to serve with the opening of a volunteer hub, Karsh West, on the westside of Los Angeles (Service Planning Area [SPA] 5). A need assessment of SPA 5 conducted in December 2022 by a University of Southern California student-led nonprofit consulting (along with conversations with West LA partner organizations such as the YMCA, The People Concern, Veterans Administration, and Safe Parking LA), identified an urgency for assistance in West LA, where 59% of children qualify for Free and Reduced-Price Lunch (an indicator of poverty). According to the Westside Food Bank, one of our key collaborators, nearly 50,000 low-income residents in West LA cannot regularly access fresh and nutritious food. The projects undertaken by our Karsh West volunteers are centered around our four key program areas and directly impact individuals and families in need in SPA 5, exemplifying Karsh Center’s purpose of “caring for our neighbors”.

Through our four program areas, we strive to create and support a safety net of services, moving toward a more empowered society where all people have access to vital resources.