Every year, a team of Holt staff and supporters travel to Korea to help create a magical, joyous Christmas for residents of the Ilsan Center, a long-term care home for children and adults with disabilities. See a video recap of this year’s celebrations!
Below, Jordan Love, a Korean adoptee and Holt staff member, shares about the party at the Ilsan Center for individuals with disabilities. The Korea Gift Team sang Christmas carols and delivered presents hand-selected for each resident based on what they specifically requested.
Concerned about children who wouldn’t be adopted, especially children with profound medical and developmental conditions, Harry and Bertha Holt personally funded and built the Ilsan Center in 1962. As Jordan notes, some of the residents have lived here for over 60 years. Others, like Jordan, stayed at Ilsan for a short time as children before they joined adoptive families. Some residents have even been able to leave the care home and lead mostly independent lives after receiving specialized therapies, vocational and skill-based trainings, and other support at Ilsan. Today, the Ilsan Center is a state-of-the-art facility that is world renowned for its care and support for individuals with disabilities.
As Jordan shares, “I feel so much gratitude and appreciation to be able to return to Holt Ilsan Center, somewhere that was vital to my life story. To be able to celebrate Christmas with the residents here (some of whom were here when I lived here) is a memory I will cherish for the rest of my life. I am blessed to be in a position to be able to advocate and show donors how transformative their caring hearts and generosity has on those in Holt care.”
The 2024 Korea Gift Team Christmas Party at Ilsan
While traveling in Korea, the gift team members also had the chance to visit the Goyang Community Center, a facility Holt donors support to empower and enrich the lives of individuals with disabilities through art and music. Below, Dan Smith, Holt’s president and CEO, shares about this amazing facility.
Visiting the Goyang Community Center in Korea
This year, the Korea Gift Team also had the chance to spend some time with the women and children living at the Morning Garden shelter.
One of six Holt donor-supported shelters for single mothers in Korea, Morning Garden provides everything from housing, food and healthcare to parenting courses, childcare and vocational training. The women receive counseling to help them cope with the stigma and discrimination that single mothers and their children face in Korean society. And they may stay at Morning Garden for as long as they need to become empowered and confident in their ability to independently raise their child.
Catch a glimpse of the Korea Gift Team’s Christmas celebration at Morning Garden below!
A Special Visit With the Women and Children at Morning Garden
Couldn’t join this year’s Korea Gift Team trip, but still want to help children and individuals with disabilities? Give a gift to the Molly Holt Fund!
Learn more about Holt’s work in Korea!
See how sponsors and donors create a brighter, more hopeful future for children and families in Korea!
Thank you so very much for the delightful little videos of the work being done for children and families in Korea. It does so much for helping me visualize what is happening there. Please keep sharing such videos from time to time.
Thank you!