Dongjak-gu, Improving Residential Environment to Free from 'Hoarding Disorder' Amid 13-Ton Garbage Pile

A total of 36 people, from community center staff to volunteers, united to clean every corner of the house, including waste disposal, organizing and storage, and disinfection

Dongjak-gu (Mayor Park Il-ha) announced on the 20th that it improved the living environment and delivered new hope for a suspected hoarding household in the area that was living by piling up garbage inside the house.

Hoarding disorder is a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder in which a person cannot discard any items regardless of their use and continues to store them.

The subject is a single-person household receiving basic living benefits residing in Daebang-dong, showing suspected hoarding symptoms, continuously piling up all kinds of items and garbage up to the ceiling inside the house, resulting in an unsanitary environment with a foul odor, exposing them to risks of disease and fire.

Additionally, during the process of construction to repair a burst water pipe in the multi-family house where the household resides, progress was hindered due to the numerous belongings and garbage inside the subject’s home, causing conflicts with neighbors.

Accordingly, the district actively took steps to improve the living environment to help the subject live a healthy and safe life and to resolve issues with neighboring residents.

Staff from the community center persistently visited, continuously reaching out to and comforting the subject who strongly refused cleaning, and after persistent persuasion, obtained consent for garbage disposal.

On that day, a total of 36 people, including staff from Daebang-dong Community Center and Daebang Comprehensive Social Welfare Center, cleaning administration task force, and volunteers, joined forces to create a pleasant living environment.

They thoroughly cleaned and organized not only the garbage left inside the house but also the sink, refrigerator, and bathroom, and conducted pest control and disinfection.

The garbage generated from this work filled six 2-ton mobile work vehicles and one 1-ton administrative vehicle, totaling approximately 13 tons.

Furthermore, to prevent recurrence, the community center staff will continue to visit the household to check on their well-being and provide necessary supplies, actively monitoring the subject.

Park Il-ha, Mayor of Dongjak-gu, said, “We will do our best to actively discover and promptly resolve crisis households like this case as well as other community issues,” adding, “We will continue to promote various projects to eliminate welfare blind spots and improve clean living environments for residents.”

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