Mapo-gu Helps Elderly Living Alone Escape 'Garbage House Crisis'

Collaboration with Home Repair Volunteer Group 'Hae Tteuneun Jip'
District Mayor Park Gang-su: "Building a Tight Welfare Safety Net"

Mold filling the interior of a single elderly person's home. Provided by Mapo District Office.

#On the 17th of last month, Mr. An (66) visited the Gongdeok-dong Community Service Center for emergency welfare support consultation. During the consultation, a public official in charge recognized another housing environment issue and visited Mr. An's home.

The social welfare officer who visited the site reported, "The yard was filled with household waste emitting a foul odor, and mold covered the walls inside the house," adding, "We judged that this could pose a serious threat to the health of the elderly person suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease."

On the 10th, Mapo-gu, Seoul (Mayor Park Gang-su) announced that it had renovated the home of a single elderly person in crisis due to severe housing conditions in cooperation with the private volunteer group ‘Hae Tteuneun Jip’ (Sunrise House).

The Gongdeok-dong Community Service Center (Director Shin Gwon-sik) removed 2 tons of accumulated household waste from Mr. An’s home with about 10 public officials on the 23rd of last month. On the 5th of this month, in cooperation with the home repair volunteer group ‘Hae Tteuneun Jip,’ they carried out housing environment improvements such as wallpapering and replacing flooring in the mold-covered room and repairing broken lights. After more than six hours of work by about 10 people, Mr. An’s home was restored to a clean state.

Mr. An expressed his gratitude, saying, "Because of my lung disease, it was hard to breathe, I couldn’t sleep well, and cleaning was difficult, so I’m really thankful for the unexpected help with the waste problem as well." He added, "Since many people worked hard, I will make sure to ventilate well and keep the house clean from now on." The district plans to support boiler repairs in preparation for the upcoming winter and carefully check whether there are any difficulties in livelihood.

Mayor Park Gang-su said, "We will thoroughly check on-site to ensure that no residents are struggling with problems they cannot handle alone and create a Mapo-gu without welfare blind spots."