Mapo-gu Develops COVID-19 Resident Life Stability Measures to Fill Gaps for Vulnerable Groups

Strengthening Monitoring of Vulnerable Groups Including Elderly, Mask Support, Activation of Emergency Care System... Full Economic Support to Alleviate Livelihood Burdens of COVID-19 Affected Small Business Owners and Self-Employed... Providing Online Cultural and Learning Content... Psychological Quarantine Support to Relieve Lethargy and Depression

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Mapo-gu (Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun) is implementing a 'Resident Life Stability Plan' to minimize care gaps for vulnerable groups such as elderly living alone and people with disabilities amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing (temporary pause) atmosphere, and to revitalize the stagnant local economy.

"Keeping bodies apart, but hearts closer?we protect residents' lives."

With the spread of COVID-19 in the community, most social welfare facilities in Mapo-gu have temporarily closed, and various welfare services have been suspended or reduced. In response, the district is strengthening safety monitoring for vulnerable groups needing care, such as the elderly, and focusing on livelihood support to tighten the welfare safety net.

First, by utilizing Internet of Things (IoT) technology, monitoring has been further enhanced, and daily companionship services are provided to elderly people who are socially isolated or whose health management is a concern. Companion plants, which help alleviate depression and provide psychological support, were supplied to 1,500 households of elderly living alone.

Additionally, to support elderly people struggling with meals due to the suspension of senior citizen meal centers, the district secured additional funds (21.88 million KRW for one month) to provide higher quality substitute meals. The district actively identifies elderly people in urgent need of care or at risk of missing meals due to COVID-19 and connects them with tailored services such as emergency support and Care SOS services.

With 202 daycare centers in the area closed, the district is conducting emergency childcare to prevent gaps in infant and toddler care. For children in dual-income families experiencing childcare gaps, a child caregiver visits homes to provide care services. Alongside this, 11 local children's centers and 2 neighborhood care centers are implementing emergency care to help minimize care gaps for children and adolescents.

Furthermore, the district invested a total budget of 1 billion KRW to provide masks to vulnerable groups struggling to secure them. According to distribution criteria, masks are delivered directly to recipients’ homes by visiting teams from local community centers, targeting beneficiaries, elderly with mobility difficulties, people with disabilities, and merit recipients.

"In difficult times, we will share the burden and move forward together."

The district is also making every effort to support small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners who are facing hardships due to the rapid economic downturn caused by COVID-19.

First, the interest rate on loans from the 3 billion KRW Small and Medium Enterprise Development Fund has been lowered from 1.5% to 1%, easing financial difficulties for local small business owners.

In line with the private sector’s good rent movement, the district decided to fully waive rent for stores located in public facilities that were closed to prevent COVID-19 spread during the closure period.

To breathe new life into the frozen local economy, the district prepared an early supplementary budget of 4.1 billion KRW for the first half of 2020 and is also implementing early execution of public finances.

A district official stated, “When preparing the supplementary budget, we allocated a total of 1.51 billion KRW to job projects closely related to residents’ lives to minimize the economic shock and support residents’ life stability,” adding, “We will do our utmost to revive the local economy.”

"We help build mental immunity through cultural life enjoyed at home."

"We support the passion for learning that COVID-19 cannot stop."

As various cultural facilities have closed and social distancing has become routine due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, more residents are experiencing feelings of lethargy, depression, and anxiety.

In response, the district is preparing various programs that residents can enjoy at home to help them overcome cultural disconnection and isolation-induced depression and lethargy, find psychological stability, and support their passion for learning.

First, on the 31st, Mapo Arts Center will hold a special online performance titled 'World Music and Dance 1 ? Tango Edition "All That Tango."' Although the performance will be held without an audience, it will be broadcast live on the Mapo Arts Center website, Facebook, and Mapo TV, expected to satisfy residents’ cultural needs.

Additionally, various open-source contents in the fields of performance, exhibition, and general knowledge have been provided once a week since the 27th through the Mapo Arts Center website, Facebook, and Kakao Plus.

Second, Mapo Central Library offers the ‘Mun·Bang·Do’ (Enjoying the Library Behind Closed Doors) service to meet residents’ reading and learning needs. This is a digital library concept that bundles useful online resources so that residents can read, watch, and experience as if they were at the library even during the closure period.

Moreover, as a temporary service during COVID-19, book delivery services are operated for elderly people aged 65 or older with mobility difficulties and pregnant women. The Mapo Lifelong Learning Portal also provides various online learning courses to ensure residents’ desire for learning is not interrupted by COVID-19.

In this way, the district is making multifaceted efforts to ensure residents’ daily lives are not shrunk by COVID-19, sharing warm hearts with each other through psychological quarantine, minimizing care gaps for vulnerable groups, and stabilizing residents’ lives.

Yoo Dong-gyun, Mayor of Mapo-gu, said, “Although we are all going through difficult times, the trust and solidarity among neighbors will become a social immune system that can fight and overcome the virus,” adding, “Mapo-gu will do its best to protect residents’ life stability through flexible and prompt responses tailored to the crisis situation to overcome COVID-19.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.