'Kim Dong-yeon-pyo' Emergency Welfare Hotline Saves 2,412 Families on the Brink of Crisis

Emergency Welfare Hotline Homepage

Gyeonggi Province has supported 2,412 people over the past year through the 'Emergency Welfare Hotline.'

The Emergency Welfare Hotline was established by integrating the existing Emergency Welfare Hotline (010-4419-7722) and the Emergency Welfare Crisis Counseling Call Center (031-120) as a comprehensive measure to address welfare blind spots, such as the 'Suwon Three Mothers Incident.'

It was newly established on August 25 last year under the direction of Governor Kim Dong-yeon of Gyeonggi Province to find and support people struggling with financial difficulties.

As of the 23rd of this month, a total of 3,182 cases have been received through the hotline, with 'livelihood support' being the most common at 2,023 cases. This was followed by ▲medical support 661 ▲debt 396 ▲housing 287 ▲jobs 93 ▲others (education, etc.) 748 cases.

Since 438 people, accounting for 14% of the total, were reported by friends, relatives, and other community members, it was analyzed that help from those around plays an important role in discovering welfare blind spots. Among them, 200 cases (46%) were from family and relatives, and 238 cases (54%) were from acquaintances and neighbors.

In fact, people such as an intellectually disabled person left alone after the death of their mother who needed legal and financial support, a homeless person barely managing meals on the street without a place to stay, and a two-person household struggling financially due to cancer treatment received help through reports.

To promote reporting, Gyeonggi Province sent thank-you letters to 54 reporters of the Emergency Welfare Hotline in June. For those who made significant contributions, commendations will be awarded to 3 people in April, 11 people in July, and 16 people (including 10 public officials) in December this year.

Since July, Gyeonggi Province has diversified counseling channels by operating 'Gyeonggi Bok G Talk (KakaoTalk)' and the 'Emergency Welfare Hotline website' for continuous consultation.

To enhance the effect of discovering welfare blind spots, Gyeonggi Province has wrapped promotional phrases of the 'Emergency Welfare Hotline' on 374 vehicles of social welfare facilities and related institutions, and distributed promotional leaflets to about 110,000 places including real estate agencies, railway stations, beauty salons, convenience stores, and medical institutions, focusing on discovering citizens in crisis.

Since May, to operate a more substantial 'Emergency Welfare Hotline,' the province has been re-investigating the risk levels of households among the crisis citizens who requested not only livelihood support but also job support and mental counseling, but whose cases were closed due to simple material support from private organizations or because they had already received support.

Through this, Gyeonggi Province connected Mr. A, who was in a life-threatening situation, to a hospital for surgery and treatment. Also, 29 people including Mr. B, who has difficulty with physical activities due to disability and illness, received follow-up care such as applying for low-income disabled status and food support.

Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon is seen talking with staff at the Emergency Welfare Hotline Center on the 22nd.

On the 22nd, Governor Kim Dong-yeon of Gyeonggi Province visited the department in charge to review the support status and encourage the staff on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Emergency Welfare Hotline.

Governor Kim said, "Just knowing that there is someone who listens to my words and thinks about me can be a great comfort, so please consider and empathize from the perspective of those who called with desperate hearts," and added, "Let us continue to build a strong welfare safety net together for citizens in need so that heartbreaking incidents like the 'Suwon Three Mothers Incident' do not happen again."

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