About Us

History
Mission
Jamey Byom thoroughly enjoyed his time spent with the Milwaukee and Chicago Korean adoptee groups. When he was informed that he was relocating to Omaha, he immediately knew that he wanted to create something similar in Nebraska. Within a month of relocating to Omaha, he began to contact Korean adoptees in the area. There was a large amount of interest for the group. With the help of T.J. Gier and Jaime Dechant, the first gathering was held on August 29, 2008.
The focus of this group is to bring together Korean adoptees in the Nebraska area. We have found that one of the best resources for Korean adoptees is to spend time with other adoptees. Many Korean adoptees can feel isolated at times. We hope this group helps eliminate those feelings. At the moment, this group will be purely social. We will have monthly dinners, discussions, events, etc... to bring together the many adult adoptees in the Nebraska area. Once we get a core group established, we will look to get affiliated with other adoptee groups, camps, mentoring programs, parent panel discussions, etc.

Board Members

Jamey Byom (Kim Chul Soo)

JameyJamey Byom was born in Seoul, South Korea. He was adopted at the age of 5 months. Jamey grew up the small town of Melrose, WI. Jamey earned his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse. Jamey is currently in the process of obtaining his Master’s Degree from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. Jamey has been blessed to work for three great organizations since graduating from college. He is currently a Finance Manager at TD Ameritrade.

Jamey Byom and his sister went to Korea for the first time in June of 2009. He loved it and can't wait to go back. It wasn’t until fall of 2007 that Jamey really got involved with the adoptee community. Since then, he has been involved with the Milwaukee and Chicago adoptee groups. He also was one of the founders of the Nebraska group.

In his spare time, Jamey loves spending time with his wife, Tianna, and his two cats. He also loves Wisconsin sports (Brewers, Packers, Badgers) and loves to travel.

T.J. Gier (Jung Min Chul)

TJT.J. Gier was born in Suwon, South Korea. He was adopted at the age of 18 months. T.J. grew up in Kansas City, KS then moved to Omaha, NE where he attended high school and college. He moved to Lincoln, where he now has a job with The Nebraska State Patrol doing computer repair work.

T.J. has not had an opportunity to interact with other Korean adoptees until Jamey Byom had contacted him through Facebook. “It's definitely much more comfortable being around other Korean adoptees because they understand what the statement 'I don't know' actually means when it comes to biological relationships."

Due to lack of interaction with other Korean adoptees while growing up, T.J. has taken great interest in becoming more active in the Korean adoptee community.

T.J. enjoys coaching youth hockey in the summer and does volunteer work for the Special Olympics.

Jaime Dechant (Kim Hye Jin)

JaimeJaime was adopted from Taebaek City, South Korea at 5 months old through Holt International. She grew up in Omaha, Nebraska and as a teenager attended Holt’s Heritage Camp for five years introducing her to adoptees throughout the country. For one year, she was a counselor with Holt Camp and the following she participated with Korean Identity Development Society (KIDS) Culture Camp in Seattle, Washington. Over the years, she has continued to stay in touch with her friends from these adoptee camps by vacationing in various cities.

She went back to Korea while attending the 2007 International Korean Adoptee Conference (IKAA) in Seoul, Korea. Growing up surrounded by the incredible people within the adoptee community has really influenced and sparked her passion to become involved within the adoptee community. Currently, Jaime is attending University of Nebraska at Omaha. She will graduate holding a Bachelor in Social Work.