‘Nowon Ddokddokddok Care Team’ 13,000 Knocks That Touched Neighbors' Hearts?

Midterm Review of 2021 Nowon Ddokddokddok Care Team Launch: 13,444 Activities in February... Addressing Public Welfare Gaps by Discovering Welfare Blind Spots Through Neighborly Concern

Nowon Ddokddok Care Team Home Visit

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Recently, Mr. A, who lost his son and is suffering from panic disorder; Ms. B, a single mother struggling with no one to rely on; and Mr. C, a man in his 50s with a hearing impairment living alone. What reached the hearts of these individuals at high risk of suicide was none other than the interest and conversations from their neighbors.

Nowon-gu (District Mayor Oh Seung-rok) is operating the 200-member Ddokddokddok Care Team, composed of local residents, to identify welfare blind spots and support neighbors in need of help.

The Nowon-gu Ddokddokddok Care Team’s main mission is to utilize community human resources to regularly visit vulnerable households and make phone calls to continuously check on their well-being, and when necessary, connect them with public and private welfare services.

In February, the district selected a total of 6,311 households as Ddokddokddok Care support targets, including 5,614 single-person households not receiving existing care services and 697 households such as single-parent families requiring other care, and began full-scale activities.

The 200 care team members each took charge of about 31 households, and through continuous home visits and welfare calls, they handled 13,444 cases in February alone. Specifically, there were 1,196 home visits, 11,758 phone consultations, 127 connections to public services, and 363 connections to private resources.

Compared to the 33,713 activity cases recorded throughout 2020 before the launch of the care team, the activity performance in just one month of February reached nearly half of last year’s total.

Looking at specific cases, continuous welfare calls and monitoring through the installation of smart plugs for individuals at risk of suicide led to immediate linkage with the Mental Health Welfare Center. For single-parent families, private welfare services supporting child education were connected.

For middle-aged men living alone, the care team provided homemade side dishes, going beyond the established manual. This is customized support that can only be identified through continuous conversations and relationship building.

The Ddokddokddok Care Team activities are also serving as a catalyst to foster a culture of neighborly care within the community. Local private organizations and religious groups donate items to be brought during home visits by the care team, and residents voluntarily hold events to make kimchi and side dishes to share with care recipient households.

Nowon-gu plans to further activate the Ddokddokddok Care Team, sharing welfare services and cases between public and private sectors to establish a dense care system.

District Mayor Oh Seung-rok said, “Through the activities of the Ddokddokddok Care Team, the community spirit of neighbors helping neighbors is being restored,” and added, “We will do our best to strengthen care through public-private cooperation and create a warm and affectionate village atmosphere.”

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