Providing Shelter for 5 Homeless People on the Street, Supporting Health Checkups and Daily Necessities, Helping Find Families... Warm Support to Aid Independence and Self-Reliance, Creating Opportunities for Healthy Social Reintegration
Yoo Deok-yeol, the mayor of Dongdaemun District, is visiting a guesthouse prepared by the district to urge homeless people to follow COVID-19 prevention guidelines and manage their health.
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Yoo Deok-yeol, mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, is actively working to inspire the will to live among street homeless people exhausted by COVID-19 and the cold wave, drawing heartfelt admiration.
As the thermometer dropped below freezing in the middle of winter, Mayor Yoo’s worries deepened. This is because there are street homeless people in various parts of the district who are braving the biting cold and COVID-19 with no protection.
Mayor Yoo is helping street homeless people regain their will to live and return as healthy members of society by supporting their independence and self-sufficiency. To this end, dedicated patrol staff for homeless people have been hired to conduct patrols twice daily, promoting preventive measures such as temperature checks, mask-wearing, and hand washing, while caring warmly and opening the hearts of homeless people who are reluctant to enter facilities or accept support. Through continuous meetings with fixed homeless people staying at places like Cheongnyangni Station, Yongdu Park, and Jeongneung Stream, their needs are identified, and all administrative efforts are mobilized to help them escape homelessness and return as healthy members of society.
First, through consistent counseling, the district provided five street homeless people who have the will to leave homelessness but currently have nowhere to live with lodging at a guesthouse on the 1st of this month, along with basic living supplies such as heating sets, blankets, training suits, slippers, underwear, tissue paper, and cooking utensils.
Additionally, to ensure homeless people with poor nutritional status due to drinking and irregular meals do not skip meals and can have healthy food, rice, kimchi, instant rice, ramen, and bottled water were provided.
Along with this, to alleviate concerns about COVID-19 infection and to check the deteriorated nutritional and health status caused by prolonged homelessness, health checkups (COVID-19 tests, blood tests, x-rays, urine tests, etc.) are being conducted at Seoul Metropolitan Eastern Hospital, and results are awaited.
In particular, the district re-registered the resident registration of homeless people who had been marked as having no fixed residence and changed their addresses to the actual guesthouse address where they reside, enabling urgent support for livelihood and housing as well as applications for basic living benefits, thereby laying the foundation for future independence.
From the morning of the 2nd, Mayor Yoo visited the guesthouse where homeless people reside to carefully check whether they are skipping meals, if heating is adequate, and their current health status. On the 3rd, he visited before work and again after work to assist their settlement.
Mayor Yoo decided to provide opportunities for homeless people with work ability to experience the joy of labor and sustain their lives independently by linking them with the homeless hope job project run by Korail.
In particular, among the homeless people who reached out for help, a senior citizen named Kim OO (79) has not spoken anything except his name and age. The district plans to build intimacy and trust through continuous meetings with the senior and help find his family.
Earlier, when free meals at churches and homeless shelters were suspended due to social distancing in March, the district prepared meal substitutes such as instant rice, cup ramen, kimchi, and Choco Pie and distributed them around Cheongnyangni Station. Mayor Yoo went to the Cheongnyangni Station rooftop plaza to check the health and meal status of street homeless people vulnerable to COVID-19 and encouraged them.
He also visited the homeless self-support facility, Canaan Shelter, to inspect building disinfection and sanitation, met with resident homeless people to hear about their health status directly, and repeatedly urged compliance with preventive measures, instilling courage and hope in the homeless.
Mayor Yoo emphasized, “The most important thing for the successful independence of homeless people is to provide opportunities. When temporary lodging is arranged and their residence is fixed, they are re-registered as residents and designated as basic living recipients, receiving job placement and job search information. We also help improve their job skills through vocational training programs and support credit recovery, including bankruptcy discharge assistance for homeless people struggling with debt.”
Accordingly, Dongdaemun-gu is continuously managing the five people who have decided to stand up again without refusing help, paying attention and support so they can escape homelessness and become our warm neighbors again. For homeless people who refused support and were not included in this assistance, continuous counseling and persuasion will be maintained.
Yoo Deok-yeol, mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, stated, “What homeless people need is not just facility admission or cash support, but practical and humane measures that support self-sufficiency tailored to their needs through continuous communication and monitoring. Amid the severe winter, worsened by the fierce cold wave during the COVID-19 pandemic, we will continue to pay close attention so that homeless people can rekindle their will to live.”
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