KCC's 5th Year of Seocho-gu 'Banditbul House' Project... Improving Living Conditions for Vulnerable Groups

Kim Sang-jun, Director of KCC (center), and stakeholders of the 'Firefly House' project are taking a commemorative photo after signing the agreement.
[Photo by KCC]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jonghwa] KCC has signed a business agreement for the '2022 Firefly House' with Seocho-gu, Seoul, and local welfare organizations, committing to continue its social contribution activities to improve the living environments of socially vulnerable groups for the fifth consecutive year.

At the agreement ceremony held on the 18th at Seocho-gu Office, key representatives from KCC, Seocho-gu, Hanuri Information and Culture Center, and three other welfare organizations attended to mutually share the promotion plans for this year's Firefly House project and signed the 2022 Firefly House business agreement.

The Firefly House project supports spatial welfare through housing renovations targeting households in urgent need of residential environment improvement among socially considerate beneficiaries. It is named with the intention of brightening and illuminating the living environments of households requiring social care, like the light emitted by fireflies. KCC has been carrying out this project together with Seocho-gu since 2018.

KCC will provide eco-friendly paint, windows, and other materials worth approximately 100 million KRW for this project. Focusing on worn and necessary improvement areas, construction will be customized on a one-to-one basis considering the characteristics of each target household. Additionally, depending on the household's needs, wallpapering of ceilings and walls, replacement of facilities such as washbasins and sinks, and new installations of security windows and built-in wardrobes will be carried out.

After recruiting applicant households from April, the selection will be made through document screening and on-site visits, comprehensively considering application reasons, urgency of support, and overlap of assistance. Customized spatial welfare support reflecting residential characteristics will be provided. Eligible applicants include basic livelihood security recipients, elderly living alone, single-parent families, persons with disabilities, multicultural families, North Korean defectors, low-income groups, and vulnerable youth households?essentially households requiring social consideration.

Last year, KCC supported spatial welfare for 34 socially considerate households through the Firefly House project, and over the past four years since 2018, a total of 130 households have had their environments improved. This year, KCC plans to intensify efforts to provide support so that more households can benefit.

A KCC official stated, "The Firefly House project is an initiative to discover neighbors in need around us and provide necessary services and resources, pursuing social values of living together with the local community," adding, "As KCC's representative social contribution project, we plan to actively promote it as a CSR model that can involve nationwide business sites and local governments."