On Parents' Day, Hosting Meals and Delivering Lunchboxes to Elderly Disabled Living Alone
Sharing Meals and Conversations with Peers... Supporting Community Network Restoration
Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Jun-hee) held the ‘Byeolbitnarae Happy Table’ event on the 3rd, in celebration of Parents' Day, serving meals to elderly disabled individuals living alone.
The district provided a heartfelt lunch to the elderly disabled at the Gwanak-gu Disabled Happiness Center. The seniors smiled broadly upon seeing the well-prepared meals. When leaving, they were also given ‘Hyo (孝) Lunchboxes’ to enjoy at home.
Park Jun-hee, Mayor of Gwanak-gu, who participated in the volunteer activity by serving meals that day, expressed gratitude, saying, “We organized this event with the heart of serving warm food to our elderly neighbors on Parents' Day,” and wished for the seniors’ health.
Among disabled residents in Gwanak-gu, one in four (27.5%) lives alone, and among them, 56.6% are elderly disabled individuals aged 65 or older, representing a high proportion.
Accordingly, the district is striving to address the triple challenges of being ‘alone,’ ‘elderly,’ and ‘disabled’ by restoring social relationships and strengthening community care.
Elderly disabled individuals living alone are exposed to various crisis situations due to the social vulnerability of ‘disability’ and the harsh living conditions of ‘single-person households,’ and face serious risks of solitary death caused by emotional instability such as loneliness and depression.
The ‘Byeolbitnarae Happy Table’ project is part of this effort. The name means giving bright light and wings (narae) to disabled elderly, supporting their autonomous lives and happy old age, and the project has been underway since last year.
The district serves lunch and provides lunchboxes every first and third Wednesday of the month at the basement level 1 ‘Byeolbitnarae Beot’ (a pure Korean word for kitchen) of the Gwanak-gu Disabled Happiness Center.
The event has received great response from the elderly as it allows them to meet peers in the community, enjoy delicious meals, and build new social networks locally. Last year, about 200 elderly disabled individuals living alone participated in the Happy Table.
This year, the district plans to prioritize support for vulnerable elderly by comprehensively considering factors such as ▲income level ▲social isolation ▲degree of disability, based on recommendations from related organizations and facilities such as community service centers and disability welfare centers.
Mayor Park Jun-hee stated, “We will continue to discover marginalized groups and create a ‘happier community together’ where no one is left out through warm and equitable care.”
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