Dear Ward 8 Friends and Neighbors,

My name is Nate Bae Kupel and I live in the Highland Village area of our ward with my wife QJ and my cat Cookie Dough. Five years ago, my wife and I made the decision to plant our roots in Malden and make this city our home. However, my story starts in Korea where I was born.

As an infant I was adopted and grew up in a small town in Maine where there were few people who looked like me. Twelve years ago I was reunited with my birth mother. The experience of finally seeing someone who looked like me was like looking in the mirror for the first time. It was so powerful that it shaped and motivated me to devote my life’s work to helping others.