WHO WE ARE
MAD MAC is a 501( c )( 3 ) Non-Profit FEIN # 68-0385064 grassroots organization created to help rebuild broken lives. The founder of MAD MAC has a heartfelt passion for the disenfranchised; at risk youth, persons facing unemployment, homelessness, incarceration and addictions. Our purpose is to provide resources, services, jobs, educational opportunities, entrepreneurship and affordable housing in our local communities. MAD MAC uses its resources to help everyday people in need to have a direct impact on people who are hurting due to the increasing governmental, social, economic, spiritual and community issues.
As we continue to partner with other local grassroots organizations in our surrounding areas and reach out to the community at large, we are seeing the horrible effects of our current economic state. The disenfranchised is no longer just the panhandler at the corner or the people in poor neighborhoods. It is no longer just the uneducated, the woman on welfare or the parolee. The economic turmoil facing our country is hitting much closer to home. It is our neighbors, our children, our parents, family, friends, and colleagues. It is now our loved ones facing job loss, foreclosure, homelessness and no health benefits.
The MAD MAC Foundation believes in meeting the needs of people where they are while engaging and teaching those we assist to pay it forward by helping others in need in whichever way they can. The MAD MAC Foundation is comprised of ordinary people who believe in Making A Difference; Making A Change. We are an organization who believes that we each have the responsibility and ability to make an immediate impact in our communities. As our community needs continue to grow we are collaborating with other viable community and faith based organizations and are reaching out to ordinary people, community leaders and businesses for their support to share financial resources and other services so that together we can make an extraordinary difference in the lives of others. So we challenge you: Are you MAD MAC? Will you MAD MAC? Please MAD MAC! Together we can MAD MAC! Making A Difference, Making A Change.
Mission Statement
The mission of MAD MAC “Making a Difference, Making a Change” is to provide innovative, cost-effective, accessible approaches to assist with the problems at risk youth and adults face in society. Which include but are not limited to gangs, crime, drug and alcohol addiction as well as self-esteem; factors that impact and diminish educational and vocational outcomes. The goal is to correct negative attitudes motivating individuals to make better life choices.
To educate, enable, and empower youth and adults to become self-sufficient by respecting their individuality, human potential, assets and abilities. MAD MAC offers resources to reverse the impact of past experiences which have limited the achievement of our clients full potential while empowering their spiritual and intellectual growth to make decisions and take responsibility for their lives, their families and their communities. Our organization provides leadership development, job placement, education and skills training to prepare clients for real jobs with real economic opportunities and to further their education: instilling in them the importance of civic engagement and community service. We also provide and develop affordable housing by serving as a regional developer of quality, affordable, publicly assisted housing for low and medium income families.
History
MAD MAC, a registered 501c3, was founded in April 1996 by Kevin Kim with the vision to keep at risk youths away from the negative influences facing youth today.Educated in the “school of hard knocks” as a kid growing up on the streets of La Puente, California, he knows first-hand the many struggles associated with limited opportunity and having to deal with seemingly insurmountable odds. Though growing up in an environment plagued with abuse and neglect, alcohol, drugs, gangs, violence, and unspeakable loss, Kevin’s rise to prominence in the entertainment industry and later as an inspirational example of the triumph of the human spirit serve positively to touch the lives of those around him. Children of all ages, adults with difficult pasts, and others have drawn strength from his remarkable story.
Founder
Spreading a message of hope and redemption, combined with an emphasis on the fundamental power of each person to change his or her life, Kevin has personally successfully reached out to more than 100,000 youth and young adults since 1998, most particularly those who are considered to be “at-risk.” Embodying a philosophy that entails “Making A Difference, Making A Change,” Kevin has often spoken about the struggles he has faced in his life but more importantly, describes how youth and young adults may take their passions and turn them into constructive pursuits.
MAD MAC in the Community
Kevin’s systemic approach to optimizing impact has entailed efforts to tackle homeless in Los Angeles, California, by leveraging the power of non-profit organizations to purchase low-valued properties at a fraction of the price, to teach at-risk youth and young adults the skills necessary to rehabilitate such housing to increase its value and to enable them to acquire job-marketable skills and then to witness the impact of their efforts by ensuring that such housing is then acquired by low-income families like theirs who otherwise would not be able to afford to buy their piece of the American Dream. This sustainable win-win approach to community development has won him praise from local officials and community activists alike.
Not merely stopping there, Kevin has touched the lives of countless youth throughout the Los Angeles County area by facilitating impact on what is generally considered to be the “hard-to-serve” population. Rather than viewing them this way, he sees each person as having the potential to do some good in the world. Instead of using a clinical approach, he reaches kids in a unique way by telling them stories to which they may readily relate, using their own terminology while “keeping it real.” That ability to reach his targeted audience has enabled him to be most effective where others have failed. Kevin enjoys a solid reputation among the education community as someone who “gets right down to business” to achieve measurable results but whose positive effects are beyond measure with each life turned in a better direction.
One of Kevin’s latest efforts to help transform lives for the better is to promote safety through encouraging youth and young adults not to race cars along public streets, a dangerous pastime that can only ultimately result in tragedy under the worst of circumstances. By partnering with local automotive businesses, youth transition programs, non-profit organizations, and others, Kevin successfully put into place a turnkey system that provides youth and young adults with apprenticeship opportunities, work experience, and the chance to continue their passion for racing in a safer but nevertheless exciting environment.