Gwangyang Steelworks Supports Local People with Disabilities

Support for Exercise and Health Helps Disabled People Recover Physically and Mentally

Professional Training and Education Create Jobs for Disabled People

POSCO Gwangyang Steelworks (Director Lee Dong-ryeol) held the launch ceremony for the ‘Bowling and Our Path Beautiful Steps Healing Project’ and the performance report competition for the ‘Developmental Disabilities Talent Nurturing Project’ at the Gwangyang City Welfare Center for the Disabled on the 7th, aiming to promote a healthy life for local people with disabilities and improve their quality of life through job linkage.

The event was attended by about 100 people, including Jeong In-hwa, Mayor of Gwangyang, Jeong Sang-gyeong, Deputy Director of Gwangyang Steelworks, Seo Young-bae, Chairman of Gwangyang City Council, and welfare institution officials.

Gwangyang Steelworks is providing sponsorship funds for the 'Bowling and Our Path Beautiful Steps Healing Project' and the 'Talent Development Project for People with Developmental Disabilities.' From the left in the photo: Seonggyeong Jeong, Deputy Head of Gwangyang Steelworks, Youngjae Lee, Director of Gwangyang Welfare Center for the Disabled, and Jeongeun Park, Director of Seosan Narae.
Photo by Gwangyang Steelworks

The ‘Bowling and Our Path Beautiful Steps Healing Project’ is a program supported by Gwangyang Steelworks and Yeosu Gwangyang Port Authority to help people with disabilities, who usually face difficulties in physical activities, easily engage in bowling and walking exercises to improve their social skills.

The ‘POSCO 1% Sharing Foundation,’ funded by 1% of POSCO employees’ salaries, supports the project with about 50 million KRW, and Yeosu Gwangyang Port Authority provides an additional 20 million KRW. The project is scheduled to run until November.

The ‘Bowling and Our Path Beautiful Steps Healing Project’ offers the ‘Our Path Beautiful Steps’ program, which helps local people with disabilities and their families residing in Gwangyang emotionally stabilize and improve their health through activities such as exploring local paths and participating in healthy walking competitions.

For homebound people with disabilities who have limited outdoor activities, the project provides home training exercise equipment and instruction on exercise methods, offering a systematic program to help local people with disabilities live healthier lives.

The project also supports about 10 local disabled bowling athletes annually, assisting their participation in major competitions.

In fact, last November, six athletes from the Gwangyang area who received support from this project participated as representatives of Jeollanam-do at the 43rd National Disabled Sports Festival, achieving remarkable results with one gold medal and two silver medals.

Additionally, at the ‘Para Bowling Asian Championship’ held in Singapore last October, the athletes won four categories: individual, doubles, mixed four-person team, and individual all-around.

The ‘Developmental Disabilities Talent Nurturing Project,’ whose performance report competition was held on the same day, is a program that provides economic independence opportunities by linking jobs to people with developmental disabilities in the region through systematic and professional technical education.

This year, Gwangyang Steelworks plans to provide a workforce development program to about 20 people with developmental disabilities in Gwangyang City, supported by 30 million KRW from the POSCO 1% Sharing Foundation designated donation and an additional 30 million KRW from Yeosu Gwangyang Port Authority.

Selected participants with developmental disabilities will receive education to obtain certifications such as baking and barista skills. Those who complete the training will be supported with job linkage opportunities to employment facilities for people with disabilities (such as cafes) within Gwangyang City.

Since the project began in 2021, over 70 local people with disabilities have completed talent development training, with 10 of them successfully employed.

Overall, the vocational skills of trainees improved by an average of 12%, providing an opportunity for local people with developmental disabilities to achieve proactive growth as members of the local community.

Furthermore, the project held the ‘Bread Sharing Day’ event seven times, where bread and cookies made directly by people with disabilities were distributed to about 2,500 local residents, sharing the love they had received.

On this day, Jeong Sang-gyeong, Deputy Director of Gwangyang Steelworks, said, “Through this project, I hope that local people with disabilities and their families will have more opportunities for mental and physical recovery as well as independence through job linkage,” adding, “Gwangyang Steelworks will continue to provide meticulous and thorough support to help people with disabilities in the community realize their dreams.”