On the 2nd, Hongseong County in Chungnam announced that it will operate the "Visiting Neighbor Care Volunteer Group" year-round starting from April, as part of its proactive welfare administration to reach out and care for residents in need.
The "Visiting Neighbor Care Volunteer Group" is a welfare initiative run in cooperation with village heads, women's association leaders, honorary social welfare officials, and members of the local community security council, all of whom are familiar with the circumstances of their villages. The group operates together with the heads of towns and the customized welfare teams. The volunteers visit neighbors in need at least twice a month to provide care and support.
The group identifies and reaches out to neighbors in need, provides information on welfare programs, offers health consultations, connects residents with welfare services, establishes one-on-one neighbor partnerships, and conducts regular welfare checks. Through these activities, the county aims to strengthen public-private cooperation and deliver practical welfare support.
To efficiently identify households in crisis, the county has established and is operating a human safety network. Currently, the volunteer group consists of 1,226 honorary social welfare officials and members of the town and township community security councils.
Park Seongrae, Director of Welfare Policy, stated, "With the increase in single-person households, the aging population, and the breakdown of communities, there are more neighbors in need of help. We will build a more robust human safety network by visiting residents who have difficulty using the internet or welfare apps, providing consultations, and guiding them through welfare programs."
Meanwhile, last year the county also utilized big data to identify households with power or water disconnections and those in arrears on social insurance payments through the operation of the "Visiting Neighbor Care Volunteer Group."
As a result, a total of 3,240 individuals were surveyed and 2,399 welfare services were linked and provided.
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