Jongno-gu Operates 'Our Neighborhood Care Team' to Monitor Residents in Care Blind Spots

Supplementing the 'Visiting Community Center' Project to Build a More Robust Social Safety Net... Providing Social Participation Opportunities for Middle-Aged Residents and Creating Local Jobs... Regular Visits to Support Elderly Living Alone, Single-Parent Families, and Disabled Individuals, Linking Them to Community Centers in Crisis Situations

Care Lunchbox

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Jongno-gu (District Mayor Kim Young-jong) will operate the '2021 Our Neighborhood Care Team' from the 22nd until the end of this year to monitor vulnerable groups and residents in blind spots of care.

This initiative supplements the existing ‘Visiting Community Center’ project to build a more detailed social safety net, provide social participation opportunities for middle-aged and older residents, and create local jobs.

The ‘Our Neighborhood Care Team,’ composed of residents aged 40 to 67 who have shown affection for the community and led volunteer activities, regularly visits elderly living alone, single-parent families, and people with disabilities to prevent solitary deaths and connect them to the community center in case of emergencies.

In addition to regularly monitoring households in need of care within the community and delivering necessary supplies, the team communicates and discusses cooperation matters through regular sharing meetings with the local Community Social Security Council.

To select activists for the Our Neighborhood Care Team, the district received applications via the 50+ Portal at the end of February and announced the final successful candidates on March 9.

Before the official start of activities, visits were made to each neighborhood to conduct job training, explain the purpose of the project, provide counseling case techniques, and share activity manuals.

In April, the 50+ Foundation will also hold an online basic literacy education session.

The activists will begin activities three days a week within 48 hours per month, starting with the Changsin and Sungin areas, targeting reclusive households and residents unreachable by phone in Hyehwa-dong, Sajik-dong, Samcheong-dong, and Jongno 1, 2, 3, and 4-ga neighborhoods.

Along with regular training and participation in autonomous meetings, activities include ▲ checking on vulnerable groups (households suspected of solitary death risk) ▲ investigating reclusive isolated households that are absent or refuse visits ▲ providing and requesting linkage to public social welfare services such as social security and emergency welfare ▲ discovering and linking private resources such as food banks and markets.

Jongno-gu also plans to integrate six existing welfare projects, including Sharing Neighbors, Sharing Stores, and Neighborhood Watchers, into ‘Honorary Social Welfare Officers’ and ‘Neighbor Caregivers’ to discover and support residents in blind spots and improve existing welfare system issues.

Additionally, the district aims to strengthen resident authority by assigning a control tower role to the local Community Social Security Council.

Currently, Hyehwa-dong, Changsin 2-dong, and Sungin 2-dong have been selected as pilot neighborhoods.

Honorary Social Welfare Officers will be appointed mainly from workers in daily life industries such as postal workers and Yakult delivery personnel, and Neighbor Caregivers will be recruited up to 15 people per neighborhood.

Meanwhile, Jongno-gu has consistently worked to care for residents in welfare blind spots and prevent solitary deaths among vulnerable residents. In 2017, a ‘Comprehensive Survey of Middle-aged Single Men’ was conducted with Our Neighborhood Officers, Welfare Block Leaders, and Welfare Planners; in 2018, a ‘Comprehensive Survey of Housing Vulnerable Groups’ was carried out, providing public support, linking private resources, and offering appropriate welfare information.

In 2019, a ‘Comprehensive Survey of Middle-aged Single-person Households’ was conducted, providing welfare counseling, linking welfare resources, and continuous follow-up management for residents facing difficulties such as economic poverty or unemployment. Last year, considering the prolonged COVID-19 situation, the district provided companion plants and animals and supported maintaining continuous relationships by sharing growth progress through applications like KakaoTalk.

District Mayor Kim Young-jong stated, “We will continue to discover residents in welfare blind spots, connect them to necessary services, and strive to build a tightly knit neighborhood network to create a community without solitary deaths.”

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