Korea Railroad Provides 'Environmental Cleaning' Jobs and Self-Reliance Support for Homeless People

Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) is supporting the self-reliance of homeless people through collaboration with homeless support centers.

KORAIL announced on the 7th that it provided environmental cleaning jobs to 94 homeless people living around stations through the '2021 Homeless Hope Job Project.'

The Homeless Hope Job Project offers homeless individuals jobs such as cleaning public squares and maintaining the environment around railway stations, and supports their social reintegration by providing temporary housing in cooperation with local governments. It serves as a form of self-support assistance.

This year, the project is being conducted from this month through November at 10 stations nationwide, including Seoul, Yeongdeungpo, and Busan. A total of 96 homeless people are participating, distributed as follows: 18 at Seoul Station, 14 at Yeongdeungpo Station, 10 each at Daejeon and Busan Stations, 8 each at Cheongnyangni, Anyang, and Cheonan Stations, and 6 each at Gupo (Busan), Daegu, and Uijeongbu Stations.

This represents an increase of 3 stations and 8 jobs compared to last year.

Before participating (working) in the project, KORAIL plans to strengthen education to ensure compliance with quarantine guidelines such as temperature checks, mask-wearing, and social distancing, and will thoroughly manage personal hygiene.

Meanwhile, the Homeless Hope Job Project began in 2012 and has steadily expanded the scale of jobs each year, establishing itself as a social contribution-type job creation model.

In this project, KORAIL supports jobs and project funds, local governments provide housing costs and daily necessities, and homeless support centers are responsible for worker selection and project operation.

Through this, over the past nine years, a total of about 590 homeless people have found jobs, of whom 178 (30%) are reported to be stably engaged in economic activities by continuing with public work programs provided by local governments.

Notably, a homeless person who participated in the Hope Job Project at Yeongdeungpo Station last year was hired as a contract employee at KORAIL Tech, a public enterprise responsible for railway station environmental cleaning, and is currently working there.

KORAIL President Son Byung-seok said, “For homeless people on the streets to return to society, interest and help from those around them are necessary. As a public enterprise that stands with marginalized neighbors in our society, KORAIL will continue to fulfill its social responsibilities.”

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