Gwangju Seo-gu Leads Efforts to Improve Housing Conditions for Vulnerable Children

Published 11 Aug.2023 15:13(KST)

Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City (Mayor Kim Ikang) announced on the 11th that it will actively promote the child housing environment improvement project, "The Room I Drew, The Room I Dreamed."

Seo-gu will provide environmental improvement services along with organizing consulting for 19 children living in housing poverty within the region.

This project was initiated to create a minimum space where children can grow up healthily, thereby boosting their self-esteem, and to induce changes in the living habits of participating households based on consulting rather than simply providing goods.

Exterior view of Seo-gu Office during the 8th term of the elected mayor. [Photo by Seo-gu]

Last month, Seo-gu identified and selected households urgently needing child housing rights, and over two weeks this month, invited Kim Eunyoung, head of the Gwangju branch of the Green Umbrella Children’s Foundation, and Oh Kyungmi, CEO of The Simple Co., Ltd., as instructors to provide child rights education and organizing consulting education for children and their parents.

By October, Seo-gu plans to conduct on-site inspections and expert solution meetings, focusing on the principle of bedroom separation, which is the minimum housing standard, and will create study rooms tailored to each household’s situation by ▲ organizing and arranging spaces through home organizing consulting ▲ creating a safe environment by installing safety insect screens and eco-friendly boilers ▲ supporting necessary items such as desks and beds for children’s study rooms.

A single parent who participated in the education said, “Previous housing support programs only provided goods, but through this project, I was able to participate in organizing education and take part in decorating my child’s room myself, which was really great.”

Song Kyungae, Director of the Welfare Policy Division, said, “Along with improving the environment such as creating spaces for children in housing-poor households in Seo-gu, we will support welfare services that allow children to pursue their dreams through changes in the living habits of participating households via education.”