BY MATT KITE for WEEKLY VOLCANO 10/31/25 |
Few organizations in Western Washington have touched as many lives as the Korean Women’s Association (KWA). On Nov. 1 it will help even more. KWA was first formed in 1972 as an informal group for the Korean wives of U.S. servicemen at Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base. By 1979, it became an official nonprofit organization, and in 2022, it celebrated its fiftieth anniversary.
These days, KWA’s mission has widened to include serving all of Western Washington. Yes, it still serves a multicultural and multilingual function, but it’s not just for Korean women. In fact, it supports community members who speak Korean, Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian, other Slavic languages, Filipino, Vietnamese, and yes, plain old English. In other words, it serves everybody in the community.
To celebrate that fact and reintroduce itself to the community, KWA is hosting its first annual KWA Community Expo tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 1, at Clover Park Technical College’s McGavick Conference Center in Lakewood. The free expo will begin with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. and run until 4 p.m. Several luminaries will be in attendance, including Eun-Ji Seo, consul general from the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea; Won-Jun Kim, president of the Greater Seattle Korean Association; Chang-Pom Kim, president of the Washington Tacoma Korean Association; Joon-Bae Kim, president of Heritage of Korean Independence; and Danny Yoo, Tacoma branch manager of Bank of Hope. Eun-Ji Seo will be doing the ribbon-cutting.
“We’re planning this community event for everyone as a free resource,” explains Laszlo Dudas, a social media and communications specialist at KWA. “The purpose is to let everyone know about the great resources that KWA can provide and also the resources that our vendors can provide.”
Indeed, more than a hundred organizations and vendors will be on hand, including the Washington State Department of Health, the Department of Social and Health Services, and several food trucks. A live DJ will be spinning music, a community raffle will be held, and the Department of Health will be providing health screenings ranging from blood pressure and vision screenings to blood glucose and A1C testing. Prospective patients are encouraged to bring proof of insurance, if available, and will be seen on a first-come, first-served basis.
KWA, meanwhile, will be providing information on its many services, including affordable housing, in-home care, domestic-violence assistance, social services, and community health. Prospective job applicants, particularly in-home caregivers, are encouraged to attend, as are veterans, seniors, and those in need of food, housing, transportation, or other services. Families, meanwhile, can partake in a free photo service and walk away with two strips of family photos, and anyone who signs up for the free raffle will be eligible to receive KWA’s newsletter. The event, which KWA officials estimate will draw between 1,000 and 2,000 community members, is being billed as “a full day of networking, celebration, and connection.”
“The whole purpose of this event is to show the community that we support the community and have so many great resources for them,” Dudas says. “KWA has been around for fifty years, and we’re trying to show all the resources we have that many people might not know about.”
KWA is headquartered at 3625 Perkins Lane SW in Lakewood. Dudas, who has been with the organization for six months, has been tasked with rebuilding and refreshing KWA’s social media presence. He’ll be drawing on KWA’s storied history as a positive force for change. KWA has opened several low-income, senior, and disabled-friendly housing units over the years, including Tacoma’s Pacific Villa in 1998, Roy’s Orchard Project in 2006, Tacoma’s International Place Apartments in 2007, downtown Tacoma’s Olympus Hotel in 2009, and Federal Way’s Senior City Apartments in 2011. The latter won the King County Green Globe Award based on its environmental sustainability and architectural merits.
Today, KWA boasts sixteen offices in fourteen counties in Western Washington and employs more than 1,800 people while serving more than 10,000 community members. Registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, KWA provides support in the form of advocacy, education, and socialization to marginalized groups, regardless of race or ethnic background. To learn more, stop by Saturday’s expo or visit KWA online at www.kwacares.org.
