Geumcheon-gu Recruits Senior Rental Housing Tenants... Gwanak-gu Supports Apartment Management Costs

[Seoul District News] Gwanak-gu Supports Facility Repairs and Electricity Costs for Air Conditioning to Improve Comfortable and Safe Apartment Living Environment and Labor Conditions... Yongsan-gu Launches Customized Neighborhood Care SOS Center... Guro-gu Completes LED Signboard Improvement on Gurojungang-ro and Gyeongin-ro... Gwangjin-gu Provides Repair Costs for Wheelchairs and Electric Scooters for Disabled... Gangdong-gu Strengthens Customized Welfare Services in Basic Livelihood Security Sector

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Geumcheon-gu (Mayor Yu Seong-hoon) is recruiting residents for the remaining 8 units of Borin Housing from February 21 to February 25.

Borin Housing is a public one-room housing tailored for elderly living alone, introduced by Geumcheon-gu in collaboration with Seoul City and Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation (SH) to improve the poor living conditions of seniors and support a healthy old age.

The remaining units being recruited this time total 8 units: ▲ Borin Dure (Branch 2 / Siheung 3-dong) 2 units ▲ Borin Hae-sal (Branch 3 / Doksan 2-dong) 1 unit ▲ Borin Hamkke (Branch 4 / Siheung 4-dong) 4 units ▲ Borin Hope (Branch 5 / Gasan-dong) 1 unit.

Applicants must be elderly living alone aged 65 or older residing in Geumcheon-gu who receive basic livelihood, medical, or housing benefits. They must also comply with management regulations suitable for community housing characteristics and agree to participate in community programs. The rent is about 30% of the surrounding market price, and the basic lease period is 2 years.

If the residency qualifications are maintained, residents can live for up to 20 years.

Elderly living alone who wish to move in can visit their local community service center from February 21 to 25 to apply. Detailed information on eligibility, rent, and required documents can be found on the Geumcheon-gu Office website under the ‘Notices & Announcements’ board.

Geumcheon-gu will conduct a field survey of applicants and announce the final residents on April 15. On April 22, room number drawing and community education will be held. Residents will sign contracts with Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation (SH) at the end of April and move in from May to July.

Geumcheon-gu provides a loan support of 90% of the deposit at an annual interest rate of 2% for elderly residents lacking rental deposits, operates elderly welfare checks to prevent solitary deaths, and runs community programs. Additionally, unmanned parcel boxes, security CCTV, and solar power generators will be installed in the housing to ensure residents’ safety and convenience.

Meanwhile, since March 2015 when Borin Housing Branch 1 was launched, Geumcheon-gu has created a total of 97 units up to Branch 6 to support the happy old age of seniors.

Yu Seong-hoon, Mayor of Geumcheon-gu, said, “Borin Housing improves the quality of life for seniors through community activities and contributes to spreading a communal residential culture where people live together. We will continue to promote various policies, including providing sustainable jobs as well as housing, to support seniors’ happy old age.”

For more details, inquiries can be made to the Welfare Support Division of Geumcheon-gu Office or the Geumcheon Tongtong Welfare Call Center.

Before and After Rooftop Waterproofing Work

Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Jun-hee) is promoting the ‘Apartment Management Cost Support Project’ to create a pleasant residential environment and revitalize the community in apartment complexes.

The ‘Apartment Management Cost Support Project’ supports costs necessary for maintenance and management of aging common facilities in apartment complexes. This year, the district has allocated a budget of 400 million KRW and plans to apply differentiated support limits by the number of households, supporting up to 50% of the total project cost per complex, with a maximum of 25 million KRW.

The support targets 143 apartment complexes in the area, supporting various projects such as maintenance and repair of common facilities including street lights, senior centers, outdoor exercise facilities, children’s playgrounds, and road repairs, as well as installation of automatic rooftop door openers to prevent safety accidents during rooftop evacuation in case of fire.

Especially this year, in accordance with the ordinance on improving the human rights of management workers, the project will include ‘installation of heating and cooling devices (including rest facilities) in apartment management worker facilities, facility repairs, and support for electricity bills for heating and cooling devices.’

Support will be provided for installation and repair costs of heating and cooling devices (up to 3.2 million KRW per complex) and electricity bills for heating and cooling devices (up to 15,000 KRW per location) to prevent safety accidents and improve the poor working environment of management workers such as security guards.

Apartments wishing to apply can check the announcement and application form on the Gwanak-gu Office website (News & Notices → Announcements) and submit the application by the resident representative or management entity by visiting or mailing to the Housing Division of the district office by March 15.

The district will select support targets after on-site investigations and feasibility reviews of the submitted apartment management cost and management worker facility support projects, followed by evaluation at the end of April. For more details, contact the Housing Division of the district office.

Last year, the district supported about 360 million KRW to 28 complexes in the area, implementing 36 projects including repair of common facilities, children’s playgrounds, crack repairs and repainting, CCTV replacement, and automatic rooftop door openers.

An official from the district said, “Through this apartment support project, we will eliminate safety risks from aging facilities and support the construction of resident communities by repairing and maintaining communal facilities. Also, with the newly implemented management worker facility support project, we will do our best to form a happy apartment residential culture by improving the working environment of management workers.”

Guro-gu (Mayor Lee Sung) has completed the signboard improvement project in the Guro Jungang-ro and Gyeongin-ro areas.

On the 14th, Guro-gu announced, “To create a pleasant street environment and ensure pedestrian safety, we carried out a signboard improvement project on certain sections of Guro Jungang-ro and Gyeongin-ro, which was recently completed.”

The project, which started in March last year, covered a 0.49 km two-way section from Guro Jungang-ro 207 (Opus 1) to 229 (World Plaza) and 17 buildings with 157 businesses at Gyeongin-ro 579 (Anseong Building). Guro-gu invested a total budget of about 277 million KRW, supporting signboard production and installation costs of 2.1 million KRW per signboard per business (up to 2.5 million KRW for curved signs, etc.).

The new signboards were made as LED wall-mounted signs that meet permit standards and have high energy efficiency. Horizontal signboards of 133 businesses were replaced, and 13 signboards posing safety risks such as ownerless signs were removed.

Since 2008, Guro-gu has been steadily carrying out signboard maintenance projects along major roads, starting with the Guro Digital Complex area.

As a result of these efforts, Guro-gu was selected as an ‘Excellent Autonomous District’ for five consecutive years in the Seoul City Outdoor Advertising Quality Improvement Evaluation at the end of last year. In September of the same year, the ‘Seolsong Building’ (9 Jungang-ro, Guro-gu), which harmonized with the surrounding landscape by organizing old large signboards and window-type signboards, was selected as an excellent case in the Seoul City ‘Good Signboard Contest.’

An official from Guro-gu said, “The urban landscape throughout Guro-gu has become much cleaner through the signboard improvement project. We will do our best to create a clean and safe street environment through continuous management.”

Yongsan-gu (Mayor Seong Chang-hyun) has officially launched the neighborhood-level customized ‘Care SOS Center’ to quickly respond to care blind spots and urgent care needs according to the characteristics of each neighborhood.

In January last year, the district established a care support team and conducted preliminary work for operating neighborhood centers. After a one-month pilot period in December of the same year, operation of 16 neighborhood centers began in January this year.

The Care SOS Center provides five main fee-based care services: ▲temporary home care ▲short-term facility care ▲accompaniment support ▲residential convenience ▲meal support, and five non-fee-based care linkage services: ▲welfare checks ▲health support ▲care system information ▲case management ▲emergency support.

The service targets middle-aged and elderly people aged 50 or older, seniors, and persons with disabilities who need help due to sudden illness or accidents.

The district informs potential service users such as applicants without long-term care grades, users of senior customized care services, case management subjects, persons with disabilities receiving activity support, and basic pension applicants. The neighborhood Care SOS Centers work to discover welfare blind spots tailored to village characteristics.

Ms. Kim Su-ja (pseudonym, 78) said, “Last year, after a fall accident, I was at a loss until I was graded for long-term care, but the free home visit service was a great help.”

If the resident’s income is below 85% of the median income (temporarily 100%), the district fully supports the cost of fee-based services. The maximum support amount per person is 1.6 million KRW per year (as of 2022). Those exceeding 85% of median income can also use the service with self-payment.

Residents wishing to apply can inquire at the Care SOS Center within their local community service center.

Seong Chang-hyun, Mayor of Yongsan-gu, said, “Care blind spots easily occur when people are in crisis but not included in the public support network. We will build a more detailed safety net through the operation of neighborhood Care SOS Centers.”

In 2021, Yongsan-gu’s Care SOS Center provided a total of 1,341 services. The linkage performance by sector was ▲meal support 505 cases (37%) ▲temporary home care 427 cases (31%) ▲residential convenience 222 cases (16%) ▲accompaniment support 184 cases (13%).

Last month, the district held a meeting with 41 service providers to provide safety education for personnel involved in the changed service fees and neighborhood center operations. Next month, job training will be conducted to strengthen the capabilities of care managers in 16 neighborhoods to enhance center operations.

Gwangjin-gu (Mayor Kim Seon-gap) supports repair costs for wheelchairs and electric scooters for persons with disabilities to improve their mobility convenience and social participation.

The ‘2022 Wheelchair Repair Project for Persons with Disabilities’ supports repair costs for mobility aids owned by persons with disabilities registered in the district, totaling 12,253 people.

Basic livelihood security recipients and lower-income persons with disabilities can receive up to 300,000 KRW annually, while other registered persons with disabilities can receive up to 150,000 KRW annually. Within these amounts, applications can be made without limit on the number of times per year.

Wheelchair and electric scooter repairs can be requested at the local community service center, and then users can contact one of three designated companies to receive on-site repair services. The designated repair companies are Withlocare, M Korea Homecares, and Actipia.

Since 2019, the district has supported a total of 365 repair cases with about 76 million KRW in repair costs through the wheelchair repair project.

Kim Seon-gap, Mayor of Gwangjin-gu, said, “I hope the wheelchair repair project will provide practical help for safe and convenient daily life for persons with disabilities. We will continue to strive to build a detailed welfare system so that no residents are left behind.”

Last year, the district additionally installed rapid chargers at 27 locations including Achasan Accompaniment Forest Trail Observation Deck and Konkuk University Disabled Student Lounge for electric wheelchair users and created a rest area exclusively for the visually impaired.

In January this year, the district operated a ‘Visiting Vaccination Center for Persons with Developmental Disabilities’ to protect those with high infection risk who have difficulty following quarantine rules autonomously. In August last year, the district provided accompaniment services, adverse reaction monitoring, and call taxi support for disabled residents visiting vaccination centers, receiving great responses.

"While undergoing depression treatment, I learned about the Jung-gu Mental Health Welfare Center at the hospital. My attending physician said that managing social life well is important alongside treatment and introduced me to the center. Receiving counseling and participating in rehabilitation programs at the Mental Health Welfare Center, sharing information and communicating with members undergoing similar treatment, was personally the greatest help."

Mr. Son, a registered member of the Jung-gu Mental Health Welfare Center, shared his experience, saying that with the center’s help, he is now maintaining daily life without major difficulties.

Recently, our society is facing rapid changes in family, workplace, and economic environments. Due to family breakdown causing loss of safety functions, employment instability, conflicts and competition in educational settings, social members experience various types of mental illnesses such as emotional depression, anxiety disorders, and attention deficit disorders.

The Jung-gu Mental Health Welfare Center promotes various projects aimed at improving residents’ mental health and enhancing community adaptability through treatment and social rehabilitation of mental illness patients.

In 2022, the center plans to focus on projects such as ▲management of severe mental illness patients ▲community mental health crisis response ▲child and adolescent mental health promotion ▲mental health promotion for high-risk groups and the general public.

The center’s case managers directly visit and continuously monitor registered severe mental illness patients through counseling. For those judged to need mental health management but not registered, the center encourages registration and supports treatment through cooperation with families and local related organizations.

To help severe mental illness patients regain mental and physical stability and improve community adaptation through rehabilitation, the center provides rehabilitation programs considering participants’ needs and functional levels. These include treatment therapies, exercise programs, mental health education, daily health management programs, and community cultural experiences to assist social reintegration.

The center supports outpatient and inpatient treatment costs based on treatment necessity and income criteria for registered members and local residents at risk of self-harm. Additionally, it runs the Healthy Drinking Hope Project for residents with alcohol problems, operating abstinence groups to strengthen motivation through communication among participants and counseling with recovered members who succeeded in abstinence.

The Jung-gu Mental Health Welfare Center conducts suicide prevention education for local residents to foster correct understanding of suicide signs and help methods. It also collaborates with primary medical institutions to identify high-risk residents such as those with suicide attempts and provide counseling and treatment opportunities, focusing on early intervention and prevention. In emergencies, center staff respond promptly in cooperation with hospitals and the Seoul Suicide Prevention Center. For suicide survivors, the center offers grief counseling and self-help groups to aid emotional healing.

For healthy growth of children and adolescents, the center works with schools and community child and adolescent institutions to early identify those with emotional and behavioral difficulties and provide various mental health support services if treatment is needed. These include ▲child and adolescent case management services ▲treatment cost support ▲online and offline school mental health education ▲after-school care institution mental health promotion programs ▲family support services (parent education), involving families, schools, and community organizations to promote child and adolescent mental health.

To improve accessibility for residents, the district operates ‘Open Mind Health Counseling Rooms’ at health centers by region. Counseling rooms are open every Monday at Sindang 5-dong Education Support Center, Tuesday at Dasan Health Center, Thursday at Yaksu Health Center, and Friday at Hwanghak Health Center. Professional clinical psychologists provide 1:1 psychological counseling on a rotating schedule. Applications can be made through the Mental Health Welfare Center. Additionally, mobile counseling services using the Mind Safety Bus are provided for vulnerable residents.

Furthermore, to raise awareness of the importance of mental health management throughout the life cycle, the district offers customized mental health education by life stage and plans events and promotional campaigns to increase community interest.

Also, to prevent COVID-19 depression, psychological support and mental health counseling are provided for isolated and home-treated patients and COVID-19 response personnel. Even after isolation ends, periodic counseling helps psychological stability and mental health recovery. High-risk groups are linked to in-depth public counseling by the Korean Neuropsychiatric Association for professional consultation.

To prevent mental health problems among single-person households, the district established a single-person household support team last year, providing customized services addressing housing, economic, illness, and loneliness issues faced by single-person households.

Seo Yang-ho, Mayor of Jung-gu, said, “We will work together as a community to help residents experiencing emotional difficulties regain health quickly and return to daily life, striving to promote residents’ mental health.”

Gangdong-gu (Mayor Lee Jeong-hoon) announced that there will be significant changes in welfare systems closely related to citizens’ lives to implement inclusive social security in the post-COVID-19 era and strengthen customized welfare services.

First, in the ‘National Basic Livelihood Security’ system, the income recognition amount for selecting recipients of livelihood benefits guaranteeing basic living for vulnerable groups has increased by the largest margin of 5.02% since the system’s implementation, now set at 1,536,324 KRW or less for a four-person household.

From January this year, the medical benefits support target has expanded and coverage strengthened by abolishing the support obligation criteria for households with elderly basic pension recipients among medical benefit support obligation households.

Meanwhile, since October last year, the support obligation criteria for basic livelihood benefits have been abolished, except for households where the support obligation household’s annual income exceeds 100 million KRW or assets exceed 900 million KRW.

The ‘Seoul-type Basic Security System’ is a Seoul City program supporting low-income groups who have difficulty living but do not meet government basic livelihood security eligibility. From January this year, the benefit level for a four-person household increased by 5.02%, allowing support up to 768,162 KRW.

Since May last year, the ‘Seoul-type Basic Security System’ has completely abolished the support obligation criteria. To allow more residents to benefit, from March, income and asset criteria will be expanded to 46% of median income based on income evaluation amount.

Lee Jeong-hoon, Mayor of Gangdong-gu, said, “I hope this will provide some economic help to vulnerable groups who are suffering more due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. The district will continue to do its best to expand the public social safety net by providing customized services.”

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