By ERIKA HARDISON
The Sun
Hope is not just a concept for Dr. Jiyoung An. It is the foundation of everything she does.
The Cherry Hill resident and public health scholar has more than two decades of research experience. She founded the Azwie Foundation to address a gap she witnessed both professionally and in her own hometown: the lack of culturally responsive mental-health resources for Korean American families in South Jersey.
The name Azwie was inspired by a conversation with a respected Korean American community leader, Dr. Chi Kyoung Kim, who described the word as “symbolizing hope,” a fitting name for an organization built with the intention and belief that research and community care should co-exist.
Kim, who was long active in the South Jersey Korean immigrant community before relocating to California, encouraged An years ago to step into a leadership role. She never forgot it.
“I saw the need for a space where research, culture and community could come together in a meaningful way,” An noted.
With a Ph.D from New York University, a master’s in public health from Seoul National University and a bachelor’s of science in nursing from Korea University, An has held faculty positions at NYU, Rutgers, Stanford and the University of Hawaii, and has authored about 50 peer-reviewed publications.
She is currently furthering her clinical training in mental-health counseling at the University of Pennsylvania, adding a counseling lens to her research background. That combination of nursing, public health, education and clinical training shapes every aspect of her foundation’s work.
The inspiration, she relates, was also deeply personal. When her two children were teenagers navigating adolescence in Cherry Hill, she searched for mental-health support tailored to Korean American families and came up largely empty.
“I felt that this was something that could not wait any longer,” she said.
That experience sharpened what years of research had already confirmed: Korean Americans have among the lowest uses of mental-health services of any racial or ethnic group in the U.S. Cultural stigma, language barriers and a lack of providers who understand the immigrant experience all contribute.
These cultural signs, An explained, are often misread by professionals.
“Korean elders, for example, may say, ‘I want to die,’ not as an expression of depression, but as a cultural idiom meaning they feel tired or burdened,” she revealed. “A provider unfamiliar with that context may misinterpret the statement entirely. Similarly, the instinct among first-generation immigrants not to actively seek help and to endure quietly rather than ask is a deeply-rooted cultural value, not a sign of indifference to one’s own well-being.
“Every immigrant has to develop their own individual culture based on a combination of where they came from and where they are now,” An added. “That process is not always easy. It can be painful. And it requires support that meets people where they are.”
The need for culturally responsive care extends into elder care as well. She described a relative living in a non-Korean nursing facility who lost her appetite entirely not due to illness, but because the food was unfamiliar to her. Her husband brought Korean food daily. For many Korean American seniors, food, language, music and familiar games are not small comforts, but they are essential to dignity and well-being.
It is precisely these gaps that the Azwie Foundation was built to close, not only for Korean Americans, but also by educating the non-Korean providers who serve them. The foundation is currently developing educational programming for health-care workers, nursing home staff and senior care professionals to build cultural competency and improve elder care outcomes.
On the community side, Azwie offers lectures on mental-health awareness, workshops grounded in real-life cultural cases, a youth leadership program and a research curriculum designed specifically to engage Korean American teenagers. An also piloted the curriculum through a local Korean school with strong results.
An is also partnering with Sharon Hartz of the Korean American Cultural Foundation and John Um of the Korean Heritage Research Association on upcoming lectures and workshops. A special lecture at a Korean American women’s leadership forum is currently being finalized. This fall, the foundation plans to expand its community programming as part of the Korean Thanksgiving festival celebration in September.
As South Jersey’s Korean American population continues to grow, An believes the community is at a turning point.
“The foundation is eager to continue contributing to the Cherry Hill community,” she promised. “Anyone who is interested – Korean or non-Korean – is welcome.”
Community members interested in attending events, volunteering or partnering with the Azwie Foundation can reach out by email at azwie.foundation@gmail.com.
