Warm Hands Continue from Songpa-gu Solitary Death Prevention Partner Organizations

Songpa-gu and Resident Contact Institutions Collaborate to Prevent Solitary Deaths; Partner Organizations Engage in Social Contributions
▲ Cowon Energy Service Donates 26 Million KRW Worth of Funds and Goods, Delivers 3,500kg of Kimchi
▲ Songpa Post Office Participates in Welfare Registered Mail Pilot Project ▲ Korea Association of Certified Realtors Songpa Branch Sponsors 1,300 Briquettes

Songpa-gu (Mayor Seo Gang-seok) is seeing a virtuous cycle emerging from the business agreements made last September with resident-contact institutions to prevent solitary deaths, leading to the spread of a culture of sharing among the partner organizations.

The district focused on the risk of solitary deaths, which has become a social issue, and on September 22nd signed business agreements with 10 resident-contact institutions including electricity, water, and gas providers. Delivery workers and gas meter readers, who are closely connected to residents' daily lives, will act as watchdogs for welfare blind spots by immediately reporting suspected households in crisis showing abnormal signs to the district office.

The effects of the business agreements appeared unexpectedly in other areas. The institutions that formed ties through the agreements eagerly stepped forward to help neighbors. For example, on December 6th, Cowon Energy Service, one of the partner institutions, donated 15 million KRW in cash along with goods worth 11 million KRW (electric blankets) designated for households in crisis within welfare blind spots in the community, signaling the start of sharing practices. The donated funds and goods will be distributed to households in crisis across 24 neighborhoods in the district.

Cowon Energy Service has continued various social contribution activities for local residents, such as delivering 3,500 kg of kimchi, directly prepared by its employees, to the Songpa Senior Welfare Center on November 29th to support low-income elderly living alone in the area.

Additionally, Songpa Post Office readily agreed to participate in the ‘Welfare Registered Mail Pilot Project’ to be fully implemented next year. This project involves delivery workers visiting households suspected to be in crisis and personally delivering information about district support programs as part of a monitoring initiative for households in crisis, with the post office partially subsidizing the registered mail costs. The data accumulated through welfare checks will be used as foundational information for managing households in crisis.

Moreover, among the solitary death prevention partner institutions, the Songpa Branch of the Korea Association of Certified Realtors (Branch Chief Kim Dong-su) donated 1,300 briquettes to vulnerable groups in Machon 1-dong during the cold wave, continuing the heartwarming stories from partner institutions.

Since the business agreements, the district and resident-contact institutions have maintained ongoing cooperation to support households in crisis. At the 2nd Working Council held on November 24th, the district and the 10 partner organizations shared procedures for operating the SNS reporting channel for households in crisis, ‘Songpa Hope Talk.’

Seo Gang-seok, Mayor of Songpa-gu, expressed, “I am grateful for the steady interest and various sharing activities of the partner organizations for neighbors in difficulty in our community. Amid the cold wave and challenging economic conditions, we will collaborate with resident-contact institutions to ensure that no one is left out and that everyone can spend a safe and warm winter, completing a more thorough welfare safety net.”

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