Mayor Lee Yong-seop Visits Crisis Youth Support Facility Project Site

Gwangju City Establishes Integrated Support System for At-Risk Youth

On the afternoon of the 6th, Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, visited the Gwangju Youth Training Center in Seo-gu to inspect the site of the crisis youth support facility project. Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] On the 6th, Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, visited the crisis youth support facility site as part of the ‘Special Week for Youth and Adolescents to Overcome COVID-19’ event, held a roundtable meeting with youth organizations and youth instructors, and listened to their difficulties.

The crisis youth support project is a unique integrated support model for crisis youth in Gwangju, where the city, the first among metropolitan cities and provinces, plans to integrate and operate the currently dispersed Youth Counseling Welfare Center, Youth Activity Promotion Center, and Out-of-School Youth Support Center by next year to provide personalized one-stop services to youth.

Until now, the Youth Counseling Welfare Center, Youth Activity Promotion Center, and Out-of-School Youth Support Center required separate visits to each center, causing inconvenience, and there was a lack of youth-only spaces and poor facilities.

Because of these issues, the need for a new integrated space that can effectively reach youth has been raised.

Accordingly, Gwangju City decided to utilize idle space within the existing Youth Training Center to create a separate integrated support dedicated space, conducted a detailed design service this year, and plans to start remodeling work from June.

During the visit, Mayor Lee reviewed the project status and collected suggestions from youth organizations, youth instructors, and youth themselves.

At the meeting, youth organizations and youth instructors proposed ▲ securing budget for the crisis youth support facility project ▲ supporting internships for out-of-school youth ▲ remodeling the underground cafeteria in conjunction with the Youth Training Center’s Asia Millennial Art Travel Hub Project ▲ and repairing the Youth Training Center’s observatory.

Mayor Lee said, “Once the Crisis Youth Integrated Support Center is established and one-stop services are provided, inter-agency cooperation will be strengthened, and synergy is expected to expand. We will actively support early detection, protection, and support of crisis youth so that all youth can realize their dreams and hopes.”

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