On Nov. 13, the Korean Community Services (KCS), hosted an “Idea Generation Participatory Budget Workshop” for both Journalism students and NJROTC cadets.
The Participatory Budget Workshop is a community-led project run by the residents of the five boroughs. The participants learn how the public budget works and brainstorm ideas on how to spend their money. Categories such as education and public safety frequently gain support, while public parks and entertainment receive less attention.
Organizations similar to KCS host workshops for high school students in order for them to learn more about the “people’s money.” The ideas submitted in these workshops are reviewed and submitted for voting by the masses.
During the workshop at Cardozo, three individuals from KCS shared their plans, perspectives, and experiences to students and showed how high school students could make a difference in their communities.
Within KCS, Jennifer, the main speaker for Cardozo, shared her insight for her goals and position at KCS.
“I am the senior program coordinator for the workforce development program,” she said. “My role is to collaborate with other organizations to create workshops like this.”
“Within the five boroughs, we implement them into different communities and populations so anyone from NYC can get a better understanding of what we do and how we can make a difference to our lives,” Jennifer added.
Being able to make decisions within each community is critical to society. Without the proper knowledge and understanding of what each individual could do for themselves and for the people that they live around, decisions cannot be made for themselves and won’t be able to receive the proper resources and funding.
For Jennifer, KCS has impacted several lives within the four years that KCS has been active and she has been able to witness the progress from the beginning.
“My role is important because I promote diversity and help NYC immigrants get acclimated into their environment,” Jennifer stated.
Immigrants make a huge part of New York City and all continents around the world. For everyone to play a part in their environment, they must get adjusted and acclimated to their home. Okhyum, one of the other members who introduced KCS into Cardozo, shared why she helped to start this.
“My family immigrated to America so I find importance in being able to help other immigrants find a place where they can find forever homes,” Okhyum said. “We have a lot of work to do with all types of projects and I’m glad that we get to share some parts of ourselves with Cardozo.”
Outside of the current workshop that KCS holds at Cardozo, they help small business owners and help with anti-hate bias hate intervention training.
“We help the population reduce the hate crime rates and bias incidents,” Jennifer shared. “It’s truly important in a world that is full of hate to be able to work around it and attempt to reduce the amount of negativity spread”.
KCS helps all types of communities around them and helps to show students why it’s important to be an active member of the community. Regardless of if they are in Queens, Cardozo, or in the neighborhood, it is a great experience and can impact many individuals from different backgrounds.
Although KCS has only been working with Cardozo for two years, both parties shared that they look forward to more meaningful partnerships in the future.
