Seongnam City Promotes Reading Activity Support Project for Homeless People

Shin Sang-jin: "Positive Changes Will Help the Homeless Reintegrate into Society"

Seongnam City in Gyeonggi Province is promoting a reading activity support project for homeless people living in facilities.

Seong Sang-jin, Mayor of Seongnam (center), is signing a "Business Agreement on Supporting Reading Activities for the Homeless" on the 13th at the 4th floor, Meeting Room 1 of City Hall, together with Moon Seon-mi, Chairperson of the Seongnam City Bookstore Cooperative, Kim Ui-hoe, President of the Seongnam City Homeless Facilities Association, and Kim Ha-jong, Director of Anna's House. Provided by Seongnam City

On the 13th, Seongnam City signed a 'Business Agreement on Supporting Reading Activities for the Homeless' at the first meeting room on the 4th floor of City Hall, attended by Shin Sang-jin, Mayor of Seongnam, Moon Seon-mi, Chairperson of the Seongnam City Bookstore Cooperative, Kim Ui-hoe, President of the Seongnam City Homeless Facilities Federation, and Kim Ha-jong, Director of Anna's House.

According to the agreement, Seongnam City will dispatch professional instructors starting from Anna's House (Hadaewon-dong) to operate a bi-monthly reading therapy program for the homeless, and later expand it to the Seongnam City Homeless Comprehensive Support Center (Seongnam-dong) and other locations.

The homeless residents of these facilities will engage in reading books, sharing thoughts, and empathizing with each other, allowing them to look inward and experience a healing process together.

The Seongnam City Bookstore Cooperative will support the program operation and provide necessary books for the homeless reading activities twice a year for two years.

The Seongnam City Homeless Facilities Federation will be responsible for confirming attendance of participating homeless individuals, encouraging participation, and managing book supply status.

Through supporting reading activities, the project aims to enhance the basic literacy, self-development, and motivation for employment activities of the homeless, thereby strengthening their capacity for social activities.

It also provides emotional support to boost self-esteem and help psychological stability. The agreement period is two years and will be extended annually through further consultations.

Mayor Shin Sang-jin of Seongnam said, “This agreement was promoted to support the reading life of homeless people who have difficulty using public libraries or bookstores,” adding, “Positive changes will occur in their psychologically withdrawn and socially isolated lives, helping them reintegrate into society.”

As of the end of February, there are 40 homeless people wandering the streets in the Seongnam area and 70 homeless people residing in facilities (29 in self-support facilities, 31 in temporary shelters, and 10 in temporary housing at goshiwon).