We are pleased to announce that our long search for a new home has proven successful. 

Over the course of the past five years, the Won Edification Center of Pennsylvania, members of the Board of Trustees, and our senior management team have been searching for a new and transformational location for the Won Institute. The reasons for the move are numerous. 

First, the Institute is growing. New programming and plans for the future require more space than we have now in Glenside. The planned master’s degree in Contemplative Counseling will require additional classroom and clinical space. The projected growth of our Acupuncture program will necessitate facilities expansion. Second, we sought to identify a location that would meet the needs of our current students and enhance the experiences of our practitioners and clinicians. Third, we wanted students to view the new site as their educational home, and one they will be proud to return to as a future graduate. 

Our facilities requirements were many and included a desire to provide community spaces to enhance our student learning experience, while more effectively integrating with the populations we serve and the patients who seek out our clinical expertise. We also wanted the new location to be accessible to public transportation and major roadways, and within easy reach of medical centers, residential care communities, and businesses to serve as future partners. 

Our new home in central Bucks County, Pennsylvania, will allow us to become a more responsive institution. Our offerings will always be grounded in our commitment to Won Buddhism, and Won Buddhism has always embraced innovation. The new building will allow us to grow with integrity, and “Growth with Integrity” is the theme of our new Strategic Plan. 

Our successes have brought us to this transformational juncture, and our time in Glenside has been productive as well as engaging. It has also become challenging. Cheltenham Township’s growing pains were felt in their responses to the growth plans of nonprofits like ours. Our growth could not be sustained in our present space, so we chose a location where the Institute’s initiatives could blossom without external impediments.

The community leadership of Warminster, Pennsylvania (our new township “home”), opened their arms to us immediately. They have been responsive, welcoming, and instrumental in the building’s planning initiatives. We feel a strong affinity and alignment with the Warminster community.

As we move forward on our journey through the coming year, we will collaborate with the building’s owner, the Won Edification Center, in planning, designing, and retrofitting the new building for an opening in 2021. We will also plan roll-out ceremonies that will celebrate our new location. 

Please join us as we commence the future of the Institute. This is a time of great excitement and genuine transformation. We are pleased and excited that the Won Institute community will be along for our journey as we strive to meet our strategic goal of “Growth with Integrity.” The entire Won Institute community extends our sincere appreciation to devoted Won Buddhist members Eungbeom Yoo and Beobeun Kim, and to all our donors over the years, for their selfless generosity. Without their support, none of this would be possible.

Please watch this page for more information.

Dr. Sookja Choi
Chair of the Board of Trustees

Dr. Bokin Kim
President