Gokseong-gun, Hopeful Home Restored Through Community Fundraising

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik] Gokseong-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Yoo Geun-gi) announced on the 11th that it has recently completed the construction of a house and held a move-in ceremony for a basic livelihood security recipient living alone with a disability who lost their residence due to a house fire.

Mr. Jang, who lost his house completely in a fire last October and had nowhere to go, was in urgent need of a new house. However, living alone with a disability and facing financial difficulties, he was unable to build a house and had to stay at the village hall.

To resolve these difficulties, the local community stepped up. Gokseong-gun secured matching funds for the housing grant in connection with the Jeonnam Community Chest of Korea’s Housing Construction Matching Grant Support Project, and the insufficient project funds were supplemented by local community sponsors such as the Jeonnam Branch of the Korea Specialty Contractors Association (President Go Seong-su) and Inseong Korean Medicine Hospital (Director Jeon Ui-sang) located in Gwangju Metropolitan City.

The Hope Shelter project started construction in December last year using the funds raised with the help of the local community and was completed last month.

The move-in ceremony was attended by Yoo Geun-gi, Governor of Gokseong-gun; Jeong In-gyun, Chairman of the Gokseong County Council; Noh Dong-il, Chairman of the Jeonnam Community Chest of Korea; Shin Hyun-sook, CEO of the Jeonnam Welfare Foundation; Yoo Chang-nam, Chairman of the Gokseong County Specialty Construction Council; and Jeon Ui-sang, Director of Inseong Korean Medicine Hospital. The event was held simply in accordance with COVID-19 quarantine guidelines.

Mr. Jang expressed his joy, saying, “This is the first time I have lived in a house with such a comfortable bathroom and a clean kitchen, and I am very happy. I am grateful to the county office staff and everyone who supported me.”

Governor Yoo Geun-gi said, “I would like to thank everyone who helped and supported the construction of the house. We will continue to take the lead in improving residential environments through ongoing public-private cooperation for families in crisis who are in welfare blind spots.”

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