The KWA Story

KWA began in 1972 when Kim Nam Hui started a Korean women’s social club in Tacoma, Washington. The women shared meals and their away-from-home stories. The group was soon selling popular Korean foods such as kimchi and rice cakes to Korean wives of servicemen stationed at Fort Lewis Army Base and McChord Air Force Base. The group also provided transportation and translation services and assisted in domestic violence situations.

Helping Korean Women Acclimate to America

Seven years later in 1979, these Korean women leaders founded The Korean Women's Association of Washington State (KWA) as a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization. The social service agency’s vision was to help Korean women acclimate into American culture.

Services Expand to Help All Nationalities

In the 1980s, the association expanded its services to meet the needs of Asian Pacific Islander immigrants and refugees, especially those with language and cultural barriers. KWA then expanded its services to helping all nationalities, especially serving the poor, the elderly and the disabled.

Today, KWA offers multi-faceted and multi-cultural services to anyone in need who lives in Pierce, King, Snohomish, Thurston, Lewis, Mason, Clallam, Jefferson, Grays Harbor, Cowlitz, or Pacific counties.

One of the Largest Social Service Agencies in the State

What started in 1972 as a grass-roots effort to assist Korean women acclimating to American culture has grown into one of the largest social service agencies in the state that services 150,000 clients in 11 Washington counties – regardless of race or ethnic background.