"No Lonely Neighbors"... Jung-gu Strengthens Social Networks

Jung-gu, Seoul (District Mayor Kim Gil-seong) is supporting residents at risk of isolation to participate in various community activities and form social networks with their neighbors.

The Jangchung-dong Community Center will hold a special lecture titled "Talking with Flowers" on the 25th for eight low-income residents at risk of lonely death. Participants will gain emotional stability while making flower baskets and have the opportunity to meet new neighbors in the neighborhood.

Ten elderly people with mild depression also spent a healing time walking along the forest trail at the foot of Namsan with a health instructor on the 12th. Since last month, the elderly have been participating in the "I Live Well Alone" program at the Yaksu-dong Community Center. They plan to strengthen their relationships by attending horticulture classes, smartphone education, and movie screenings together until November.

In Cheonggu-dong, the "Healthy Outing Walk Together" is popular. On the 21st of last month, 33 people, including single-person households, took the monorail in Donghwa-dong to Daehyeonsan Reservoir Park, where they exercised together and shared lunchboxes, fully enjoying the outing atmosphere. Later, on the 4th, during the Namsan Forest Trail outing, they walked barefoot on the loess path, taking care of their health as well. The "outing" program will be held six more times until October.

The Gwanghui-dong Community Center is also promoting "Approaching Multicultural Neighbors." Ten percent of Gwanghui-dong's population are foreigners, with a particularly high proportion of multicultural families who migrated from Central Asia.

Throughout May, the Gwanghui-dong Community Center carried out various projects to prevent multicultural families from being marginalized in the community, such as forming a foreigner security volunteer group and a voluntary disaster prevention team, hosting a one-day tea house, and running country-specific doll-making programs.

Additionally, by the end of the year, they plan to strengthen cooperation by signing business agreements with foreign institutions and support multicultural neighbors further by providing multicultural-related books and reading guidance in small libraries.