Launch Ceremony Held on February 5, Appointing 41 Members in Total
2 to 3 Members Assigned per Neighborhood, Each Responsible for Over 40 Households
Ongoing Care Activities Including Regular Check-ins for Socially Isolated Households
Over 77,800 Calls and Home Visits Made Last Year to 2,206 Vulnerable Individuals
Building a Dense Social Safety Net with Intensive Check-ins During High-Risk Periods for Lonely Death
Seongdong-gu, Seoul (Mayor Jung Won-oh) held a launch ceremony on the 5th to officially announce the activities of the ‘Our Neighborhood Care Team,’ which operates to identify socially isolated households and resolve welfare blind spots.
The ‘Our Neighborhood Care Team’ consists of residents who are well acquainted with local conditions and take full responsibility for regularly checking on socially isolated single-person households in need of attention, such as those at risk of lonely death, by phone or direct visits, while also identifying welfare blind spots.
In case of any unusual situations such as emergency hospital transfers involving the target individuals, the team immediately informs the local community center officer (welfare planner) to enable prompt response to the crisis. They also carry out activities to identify households at risk of lonely death.
On February 5th, the district held a launch ceremony and awarded certificates of appointment to a total of 41 members of the ‘Our Neighborhood Care Team’ who will begin new activities this year. With a vigorous oath from all team members, the official start of activities was announced. The event also included an evaluation of past activities and a session to explore future improvement plans together. Training was conducted to strengthen capabilities, including sharing activity manuals and guidance on home visit procedures and crisis response methods.
The ‘Our Neighborhood Care Team’ is deployed with 2 to 3 members per neighborhood, each responsible for more than 40 households under a dedicated responsibility system. An activity allowance of 396,000 KRW is provided for 48 hours of monthly work.
Last year, a total of 41 care team members across all 17 neighborhoods in Seongdong-gu played a significant role in identifying at-risk households by making over 77,800 phone calls and home visits to check on 2,206 vulnerable individuals.
A representative case from last year involved the ‘Our Neighborhood Care Team’ detecting a crisis while checking on a middle-aged single male living in Wangsimni Doseon-dong. The team immediately visited the site and took action. After the individual collapsed vomiting, the team reported to 119 and arranged hospital transfer, preventing a more serious crisis.
This year, the team plans to focus on checking on residents intensively during periods with a high risk of lonely death, such as Lunar New Year and Chuseok holidays, cold waves, and heatwaves, to protect residents. They will also strengthen activities to build a dense social safety net by providing training on how to write activity logs by neighborhood.
Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, “The ‘Our Neighborhood Care Team’ plays an important role in closely watching neighbors in difficulty. We look forward to the enhanced activities of the team this year, and Seongdong-gu will do its best to establish a flawless care system so that no neighbor suffers from psychological isolation or economic hardship.”
Dongdaemun-gu Cultivates New Workforce through Sewing Internship Support Project
Customized Sewing Training Linked to Employment, Up to 4.8 Million KRW Support per Company
Dongdaemun-gu (Mayor Lee Pil-hyung) is supporting the resolution of labor shortages in sewing companies through the ‘Sewing Internship Support Project.’ The district has launched the ‘Sewing Internship Support Project’ in 2024, the first among Seoul’s autonomous districts, to cultivate new sewing personnel.
The project targets 12 sewing companies and 12 job seekers within Dongdaemun-gu.
When the district connects companies and job seekers, the companies provide intensive training on the skills required for product manufacturing for 6 weeks, then sign an ‘intern labor contract’ for a 3-month employment period.
To reduce the companies’ labor cost burden, Dongdaemun-gu supports up to 4.8 million KRW per company during the internship period.
Eligibility for participation is as follows: for ‘companies,’ sewing companies registered in Dongdaemun-gu with no national or local tax arrears, capable of paying minimum wage and enrolling interns in the four major social insurances.
For ‘job seekers,’ priority will be given to residents of Dongdaemun-gu among sewing workers under 65 years old residing in Seoul who wish to work in the sewing industry. Priority will also be given to those holding sewing-related degrees or certificates, career interrupters, and youth under 39 years old.
Companies and job seekers wishing to participate in the ‘Sewing Internship Support Project’ can apply by visiting or mailing to the Dongdaemun-gu Fashion Sewing Support Center (19 Dapsimni-ro 48-gil, Building A office) by February 10.
Detailed information about the ‘Sewing Internship Support Project,’ including required documents, can be found on the Dongdaemun-gu website.
Lee Pil-hyung, Mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, said, “We hope this will be a great opportunity to alleviate the labor shortage of sewing companies while providing jobs to job seekers.”
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
