[Seoul District News] Gwangjin-gu to Hold Walking Event with People with Developmental Disabilities at Children's Grand Park on 28th & Flying Disc, Magic, Zoo Visit for Healthy Communication with Developmental Disabilities ... Songpa-gu Hosts Disability Festival ... Jungnang-gu to Hold ‘Sommelier’ Flea Market with People with Developmental Disabilities on 28th ... Guro-gu to Host ‘2022 Guro-gu Disability Job Fair’ at Guro-gu Office Auditorium on 25th at 3 PM ... Seongdong-gu Signs MOU with Seongdong-gu Church Union on 14th for Identifying and Supporting Vulnerable Households
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gwangjin-gu (Mayor Kim Kyung-ho) will hold the 'One Heart Walking and Flying Disc Competition for People with Developmental Disabilities' on the 28th at Children's Grand Park, organized by the Gwangjin Lifelong Education Center for People with Developmental Disabilities.
This event was prepared under the theme of 'Creating a Precious Community by Walking Together in Step' to promote communication and harmony between people with disabilities and those without.
A total of about 300 participants will be divided into 12 teams. Each team consists of 20 people, pairing one person with developmental disabilities and one without.
Participants must visit four booths. They will circulate through the flying disc, crafts, magic, and zoo viewing booths and receive a visit confirmation stamp.
The competition event, 'Flying Disc,' is a game where a plastic disc is thrown at a target to score points. In this competition, each person throws five discs to compete.
Additionally, participants will watch a magic show and visit the zoo together, experience craft activities, and have time for close communication and mutual understanding between people with developmental disabilities and those without.
Kim Kyung-ho, Mayor of Gwangjin-gu, said, “People with developmental disabilities and their families, who have been under much stress due to restrictions on outdoor activities caused by COVID-19, I hope you have a joyful and healthy time at this walking event,” adding, “We will continuously strive to create an environment where everyone can live more happily together.”
Songpa-gu (Mayor Seo Gang-seok) grandly held the 2022 Songpa-gu Disability Festival at 2 p.m. on the 18th in the Songpa-gu Office auditorium to commemorate the 42nd Disability Day.
The festival has been held annually around April 20, Disability Day, but this year it was postponed to the second half of the year due to the impact of COVID-19.
Hosted by the Seoul Welfare Center for the Visually Impaired, 13 disability welfare institutions and organizations voluntarily participated to prepare various cultural events that people with disabilities could directly enjoy and participate in.
The program included a cello performance by a person with visual and hearing impairments, commendations for contributors to disability welfare, prize draws, magic shows, and musical performances. Many guests, including disability welfare institution officials, the chairman and members of the Songpa-gu Council, attended to celebrate the festival.
Also, private companies such as Lotte Engineering & Construction, Dongsung Engineering, and Hyundo General Construction participated and sponsored, greatly contributing to improving social awareness of people with disabilities and fostering social integration.
Seo Gang-seok, Mayor of Songpa-gu, said, “I thank many people who worked hard to prepare the festival, and I felt the passionate enthusiasm from Park Gwan-chan’s cello performance that beautifully decorated the pre-ceremony performance,” adding, “We will not only strive to support policies for people with disabilities but also create a Songpa-gu where people with and without disabilities can live together as neighbors without any discrimination.”
Jungnang-gu (Mayor Ryu Kyung-gi) will hold the ‘Sommelier’ flea market on the 28th in Junghwa 2-dong, hosted by the Jungnang Lifelong Education Center for People with Developmental Disabilities.
The flea market’s name, ‘Sommelier,’ is an abbreviation derived from the phrase ‘Our precious belongings to our neighbors.’ This event will operate as a place for interaction with local residents by selling bracelets, mask straps, necklaces, baskets, bags, artworks made by developmental disability trainees through DIY and horticulture classes, as well as their own collections.
The trainees plan to participate in the event after understanding the concept of flea markets and the role of sellers through prior and mock practice.
The district expects that by introducing and selling items made directly by the trainees to neighbors, their capacity for social participation and voluntary will will be enhanced, and positive awareness of people with developmental disabilities will spread in the local community.
The event will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and in addition to the sale of trainee-made items and collections, items sponsored by the local community will also be sold.
A social worker at the center preparing the flea market said, “We hope this event will be an opportunity for communication between local residents and people with developmental disabilities, and we will do our best to raise awareness of people with developmental disabilities as our neighbors.”
Ryu Kyung-gi, Mayor of Jungnang-gu, said, “I thank the center for providing opportunities for developmental disability trainees to gain various social experiences,” adding, “We will continue to make efforts so that people with developmental disabilities can live a self-directed life while harmoniously integrating into the local community.”
Guro-gu (Mayor Moon Heon-il) will hold the ‘2022 Guro-gu Disability Job Fair’ at 3 p.m. on the 25th in the auditorium on the 5th floor of Guro-gu Office in cooperation with local companies.
Hosted by Guro-gu and co-organized by the Korea Employment Agency for the Disabled Seoul Southern Branch and the Seoul Disability Job Integrated Support Center, the Disability Job Fair aims to discover excellent small and medium-sized enterprises employing people with disabilities, improve awareness of people with disabilities, expand employment opportunities, and create quality jobs for people with disabilities.
Since its first event in 2010, it has been held 15 times except for 2020 when it was canceled due to COVID-19, with about 1,000 participants each year and 50 to 70 people employed each time.
This fair will have 40 recruiting companies from various fields such as office work, manufacturing, IT and telecommunications, production and simple labor, service jobs, and social workers participating to provide jobs for people with disabilities. One-on-one on-site interviews between job-seeking people with disabilities and companies will be conducted for more efficient employment support, along with various side events such as recruitment counseling, free ID photo shooting, vocational tarot, vocational interest tests, and metabolic syndrome tests.
Job seekers with disabilities can participate in on-site interviews by visiting the venue from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the 25th without prior application, bringing a resume, self-introduction letter, welfare card, and one passport-sized photo. For more details, inquiries can be made to the Guro-gu Disability Policy Team.
A Guro-gu official said, “We hope many people who wish to find employment will participate,” adding, “We will work harder to support jobs for people with disabilities so that they can find hope and prepare for the future through employment.”
Seongdong-gu (Mayor Jung Won-oh) announced that on the 14th, it signed a business agreement with the Seongdong-gu Church Council (Chairman Ji Hyung-eun) to support vulnerable groups such as households in crisis.
The Seongdong-gu Church Council is a coalition of about 150 churches located in Seongdong-gu, formed for the development of the district and the well-being of its residents, conducting various volunteer and charity projects.
Through this agreement, the district will cooperate with the Church Council to build a more thorough local social welfare safety net system. This is to prevent tragic incidents like the death of the three women in Suwon last August and to discover and support households in crisis that have difficulty receiving public benefits.
The support targets include: ▲ households in crisis whose actual residence is in Seongdong-gu but whose address is registered elsewhere ▲ cases where public benefit support is difficult due to income and property standards not met or lack of substantial support from obligated supporters such as children ▲ temporary public benefit recipients who need continuous support ▲ cases where public benefit support alone cannot resolve the immediate crisis ▲ and other cases recognized as needing support.
Through this agreement, Seongdong-gu will establish a dense welfare safety net by organically linking with religious institutions in discovering and supporting households in crisis, which had been mainly operated focusing on public benefit support, thereby providing stronger support for vulnerable groups.
In particular, if difficult cases are discovered but public institutions cannot prepare clear support measures, support can be provided through the human and material networks of religious institutions. Conversely, by utilizing the networks of religious institutions, households in crisis that have not received support due to lack of information can be discovered and supported as public benefit recipients.
The district is making every effort to resolve sudden crisis situations quickly by conducting integrated counseling, including visiting the site within 24 hours when local residents in crisis request help, utilizing resources such as the Seongdong Hope Food Sharing Center, Care SOS Service, and Sharing Network.
Also, to find hidden households in crisis, it uses 39 types of crisis information collected through big data, such as power outages, water outages, and social insurance arrears, and operates a system that rewards informants who contribute to discovering households in crisis. Furthermore, it plans to expand support projects for vulnerable groups through agreements and sponsorships with various religious organizations, resident groups, and companies.
Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, “I thank the members of the Seongdong-gu Church Council who willingly extended a helping hand to neighbors in need in Seongdong-gu,” adding, “I hope you will continue to take great interest and join forces in discovering and supporting households in crisis in the region.”
“It was difficult to get up after sitting on the floor, but now I can sit on a chair to eat and talk, so it’s much more comfortable and satisfying,” said an elderly person using a senior center that received standing tables and chairs.
Dongdaemun-gu (Mayor Lee Pil-hyung) is promoting the culture of standing tables by supporting standing tables and chairs for seniors using senior centers to protect their joint health.
The district is promoting the conversion of senior centers to standing tables as the sitting-on-the-floor culture adversely affects seniors’ joint health, and many senior centers are requesting conversion to standing tables.
Recently, standing tables and chairs were provided to Dapsimni Park Xi Senior Center and Dapsimni 3-dong Senior Center. Currently, among 134 senior centers in the area, about 80 have completed support for standing tables, chairs, sofas, etc. The district plans to convert the remaining senior centers to standing tables, considering the internal space of each center.
Lee Pil-hyung, Mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, said, “We will carefully attend to even small details to ensure seniors have no inconvenience using senior centers,” adding, “We will continue various supports for seniors’ healthy old age and comfortable and enjoyable leisure life.”
Dongdaemun-gu was recognized for its continuous efforts to improve seniors’ quality of life and was certified as an ‘Age-friendly City’ by the World Health Organization (WHO) last September.
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