Team Leaders An Seon-gyeong and An Seon-jin of Hanam City Receive Minister of Health and Welfare Award

Hanam-si 'Social Welfare Sister Officials'... Selected as 'Happy Companion Social Welfare Official Family'
Diligently Performing Social Welfare Duties Supporting Socially Vulnerable for National Happiness

Hanam City, Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Lee Hyun-jae) announced on the 14th that sisters and public officials An Seon-gyeong, head of the Visiting Health and Welfare Team in Misa 2-dong, and An Seon-jin, head of the Childcare Policy Team, were selected as the 'Happy Companion Social Welfare Public Official Family' and received the Minister of Health and Welfare Commendation.

Sister public officials of Hanam City, Ahn Seon-gyeong, Head of the Visiting Health and Welfare Team in Misa 2-dong, and Ahn Seon-jin, Head of the Childcare Policy Team. Provided by Hanam City

The 'Happy Companion Social Welfare Public Official Family' refers to family public officials who walk the path of social welfare officers to improve the quality of life for socially vulnerable groups such as the disabled, elderly, children, and low-income families.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare selected 20 families to encourage the contributions of family social welfare public officials who have quietly done their best to promote the rights and interests of socially vulnerable groups despite difficult circumstances.

Team leaders An Seon-gyeong and An Seon-jin have served as social welfare public officials for 24 and 22 years respectively, faithfully carrying out social welfare duties such as supporting socially vulnerable groups for the happiness of the people.

Team leader An Seon-gyeong led various achievements based on three principles: △ counseling excluding prejudice and authority △ exploring social welfare system connections for socially vulnerable groups △ searching for marginalized groups to discover welfare blind spots.

In particular, a representative achievement was separating abused children from their abusive parents at her first posting in the Dong Administrative Welfare Center, continuously monitoring and providing support through counseling, and supporting the independence of child heads of households. The child helped by Team leader An Seon-gyeong expressed a desire to care for neighbors in similar marginalized situations after becoming an adult, chose social welfare as a university major, and practiced a virtuous cycle creating a positive impact on our society.

Additionally, following Hanam City's contribution to receiving the Minister of Health and Welfare Institutional Commendation at the 2023 Excellent Case Contest for Solitary Death Prevention Projects, this year she was selected as a social welfare meritorious person at the ‘25th Social Welfare Day Ceremony’ and received the Minister of Health and Welfare Commendation.

Team leader An Seon-jin set two major principles: △ counseling that protects the self-esteem of socially vulnerable groups △ mobilizing all public support and private resources for socially vulnerable groups, and devoted herself to protecting and supporting socially vulnerable groups.

In particular, a representative achievement was supporting socially vulnerable groups who fell into welfare blind spots because they did not meet the criteria for public support by linking relatively less stringent private resources. Thanks to Team leader An Seon-jin’s meticulous effort in maintaining a private resource list by category, many residents who previously could not receive public support were able to access assistance.

She also actively promoted administration by creating the project name ‘Kkokkobok’ (Welfare Linking Tail to Tail), which is easy to say and understand, to induce broad civic interest in discovering welfare blind spots, and produced a character for it.

Through these efforts, she received the Minister of Health and Welfare Commendation for Excellent Public Official in Basic Livelihood Security in 2018, the Presidential Institutional Commendation in Basic Livelihood Security in 2019, and the Excellence Award for Active Administration in 2022.

Team leaders An Seon-gyeong and An Seon-jin said, “Watching our grandfather and parents’ public service when we were young taught us the attitude of public officials and how to approach neighbors in need first, which allowed us to work passionately after appointment. As sisters working together in the social welfare field in Hanam City, we will strive to provide the best social welfare services to citizens by creating synergy through various information exchanges.”