Ability Now got a very special visit on Wednesday, July 24th from Michael Paik, the executive director of the Purme Foundation, in Seoul South Korea. Mr. Paik oversees three community-based centers in Seoul and manages fifteen associated centers. Mr. Paik spent two hours touring our center and meeting some of our participants, including artist Monique Harris, who gave him one of her art pieces as a gift.
Mr. Paik started his career as a successful journalist at CBS and the Dong-A Ilbo, both major media companies in Korea. However, a major car accident in Scotland in 1998 changed his life forever. As his wife was getting a jacket out of the trunk of their car while parked on the side of the road, a car crashed into them. She lost her left leg in the accident. When they got back to South Korea, they realized the waiting lists for rehabilitation hospitals were long, and once admitted, the treatment was inadequate. That’s when he pledged to open a rehabilitation hospital for people living with a disability.
With the establishment of the Purme Foundation, he has opened a rehabilitation services center for children with disabilities, independent supportive living services for persons with disabilities, a dental clinic for people with disabilities, and a children’s rehabilitation clinic. In 2016, Mr. Paik established the Purme Children’s Rehabilitation Hospital, the first rehabilitation hospital for children in South Korea.
Mr. Paik is currently working on a book about the disability communities and has been touring other disability organizations. The biggest compliment we received from him was how happy all of our participants seemed to be, something he hadn’t observed in other organizations he had visited. We are so honored that Ability Now was part of Mr. Paik’s visits. We look forward to his book and his next visit.