The Unseo 2-dong Community Security Consultative Body (co-chairs Seo Hyung-min and Kim Young-sung) of Yeongjong-gu District (Mayor Son Hwa-jung), Incheon, carried out the ‘Our Neighborhood Village Care Well-being Guardian’ project on July 15, personally visiting neighbors at risk of reclusion, social isolation and solitary death to check on their well-being.
 [The Korean Today] ‘Our Neighborhood Village Care Well-being Guardian’ activities by the Unseo 2-dong Community Security Consultative Body © Reporter Kim Mi-hee |
On the day, consultative body members visited a total of 20 households, including vulnerable residents at risk of social isolation and solitary death, checking on each one and delivering carefully prepared side dishes. Because the visits went beyond simply handing over goods to include face-to-face meetings that assessed residents’ living conditions, they served as a point of contact reconnecting isolated households with the local community.
The private sector also lent a hand. Myeongpumgwan, a local business, donated food items for neighbors in need, including galbitang (beef short rib soup), supporting an additional 11 households and helping spread a culture of sharing in the community.
The project is being carried out after being selected through Incheon International Airport Corporation’s ‘Building a Healthy Incheon Community’ contest, with the goal of establishing a ‘resident care system’ that checks on single-person households at high risk of reclusion and isolation, as well as those at risk of solitary death, at least once a month. It amounts to a public-private cooperative care network in which a public institution’s support, resident organizations and local merchants work together.
At a time when the growing number of single-person households makes it difficult for government administration alone to look after at-risk households living cut off from their neighbors, such a standing care system in which residents look after fellow residents is regarded as a practical safety net that narrows welfare blind spots.
Seo Hyung-min, head of the Unseo 2-dong office, said, “Amid the increase in single-person households, we are grateful to Incheon International Airport Corporation and Myeongpumgwan for joining us in building a community network,” adding, “We will continue to work with consultative body members to create a warm local community.”
[ Reporter Kim Mi-hee: incheonsouth@thekoreantoday.com ]
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