Gimcheon Youth Counseling and Welfare Center, A Reliable Companion for Young People

Walking Beside Youth to Nurture Their Dreams

A Growth Stage Built Together in Gimcheon

"1388 Youth Helpline" for Unspoken Worries

Protecting Today, Dreaming of Tomorrow

Gimcheon City in North Gyeongsang Province is operating the Gimcheon Youth Counseling and Welfare Center, a welfare safety net where counseling, support, and participation are all connected into one, so that young people no longer have to struggle and worry alone, and to support their healthy growth.

It is not easy for young people to put their worries into words. The more tangled their feelings become, the more they choose to endure alone for reasons such as "being afraid they will be seen as strange, not wanting to cause worry, or being scared that their friends might find out." The longer that time drags on, the bigger the worries grow, and at some point their daily life begins to shake. At such times, what young people need is not advice or admonishment, but "a channel where they can safely lay down their hearts."

Clockwise: Youth Harmony Festival - Youth Training Camp - Youth Hazardous Environment Monitoring Team - Counseling Volunteers / Photo by Kim Ihwan

The Gimcheon Youth Counseling and Welfare Center serves as a community-based psychological and welfare safety net that supports the lives of young people. It provides individual counseling and psychological testing, preventive education on youth issues, operates the 1388 Youth Helpline, and offers integrated support through the Youth Safety Net, the Youth Companion Program, the Dream Dream (Support Center for Out-of-School Youth), the Youth After-School Academy, and the Youth Harmony Festival.

1388 Youth Helpline: available not only for crises but also for "unspoken worries" ... Youth Safety Net that moves together, Youth Companion that reaches out ... Dream Dream, a stepping stone of hope that helps young people prepare for the future with stability even outside of school ... Youth After-School Academy, a place that turns after-school hours into time for growth through after-school care ... A growth stage that nurtures youths' dreams and citizenship, "Ilchwiwoljjang" and the "Exchange Camp" ... A community that understands its youth ultimately becomes a safer community.

What young people need is not to be told "endure it alone," but to have "a structure where they do not have to endure it alone." The 1388 Youth Helpline helps them bring out worries they have not been able to talk about, and the Youth Safety Net and Youth Companion connect the community so that young people are not left alone. Dream Dream becomes a stepping stone of hope that enables them to prepare for the future even outside of school, and the After-School Academy helps middle school students turn their after-school hours into time for growth.

A city official said, "A community where young people grow up healthy ultimately becomes a community where all citizens are healthy and safe. And that beginning may actually be something very simple," adding, "The Gimcheon Youth Counseling and Welfare Center keeps its doors open every day so that young people's hearts can find a place to rest. We will continue to provide more support so that young people can grow up healthily together with the local community."

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