Jeongeup-si Aims to Build a Crisis-Free Community with Citizen-Centered Welfare

Jeongeup City is strengthening the role of the Hope Welfare Support Team to systematically support vulnerable groups. Provided by Jeongeup City

Jeongeup-si announced that, as social isolation has increased due to changes in family structure and the spread of individualism, it is strengthening the role of the Hope Welfare Support Group to systematically support vulnerable groups in crisis.

Through this, the city is swiftly responding to support relationship-building for socially isolated households and to establish a system for the early identification of and response to households in crisis.

So far, through a blind-spot detection system using 47 types of big data, including power and water shutoff records, the city has identified 3,572 households and has provided practical support by connecting them with public and private resources. This year, it plans to strengthen its check-in services to more proactively identify crisis households that have fallen into blind spots.

In addition, for 206 young and middle-aged households at risk of dying alone, the city is operating an information and communications technology (ICT)-based prevention system, including an AI check-in call service and smart care plugs, to respond at all times to crisis situations in potentially at-risk households. Furthermore, 273 members of the Community Security Council, along with 1,363 village and neighborhood heads and workers in everyday service sectors, have been appointed as honorary social welfare officials. The city plans to make every effort to identify crisis households through this private human safety net, while compensating for the limitations of ICT-based check-ins.

Meanwhile, Jeongeup-si is continuously providing emergency livelihood and medical support to households facing financial difficulties due to sudden crises such as job loss, business suspension or closure, illness, or injury. This year, the city will raise the income and asset thresholds and increase the livelihood support amount for single-person households to 780,000 won, and will continue active support with the goal of creating a Jeongeup-si without crisis households.

The "Happiness Sharing Community Refrigerator," which has been in operation since 2022, is helping to spread a culture of sharing among neighbors, reduce food waste, improve access to food, and restore village communities. To date, the city has received donations of more than 142 million won from individuals and organizations, and has provided goods worth more than 133 million won to 27,965 households. This year, Jeongeup-si plans to take the lead in building a local network based on neighborly sharing by expanding operations to three additional locations in Jeongu, Deokcheon, and Sannae.

Jeongeup Mayor Lee Haksoo said, "We will continue to discover diverse resources and provide customized welfare services on an ongoing basis to realize community welfare that citizens can truly feel."