Comprehensive Support for Underprivileged Communities Opens New Channel for Social Integration

Suwon City is opening a new channel for social integration by caring for underprivileged communities in the region. The city is expanding social welfare facilities such as the Suwon Comprehensive Social Welfare Center and laying the groundwork through welfare policies including financial support for low-income students' tuition. Suwon City's social welfare initiatives, which are being approached with long-term planning through 2012, are being implemented in earnest.

According to the city on the 14th, three welfare centers will be established in the Suwon region by 2012, and remodeling work on the rehabilitation welfare center is underway. The Suwon Comprehensive Social Welfare Center (with a site area of 18,275 square meters) will be built in the Homae-sil residential development site where a rental housing project is in progress, and a cultural arts center and women and family center will also be located on the same site.

Additionally, senior welfare centers will be built in Cheongseol (site area 4,728 square meters) and Paldal-gu (1,983 square meters) in Manseok Park in Jeongja-dong, Jangan-gu and in redevelopment zone 115-6 in Gyegye-dong, Paldal-gu, respectively, with site acquisition negotiations currently completed.

The low-income support project that the city had been promoting since 2006 has entered the implementation stage. As of July, the city has provided 2.29 billion won (benefiting approximately 63,000 people) for projects delivering daily necessities and food to low-income households during holidays and year-end periods.

The city has invested a total of 11.415 billion won in programs supporting children at risk of missing meals and the operation of community child centers, and is providing approximately 3.4 billion won for education support projects for low-income families, with plans to invest a total of 40.444 billion won through 2010.

Additionally, the city is operating two joint workshops for the homeless, conducting cleaning projects and other work to provide employment opportunities and facilitate self-reliance.

This is also a campaign pledge of Mayor Kim Yong-seo to create a Suwon where all citizens are happy. Mayor Kim emphasized, "the phenomenon of social polarization is increasing," and "social welfare sector investment is necessary to address this."

In particular, Mayor Kim noted that "it is quite difficult to implement a welfare society without voluntary citizen participation," and added that "fortunately, it is encouraging that approximately 114,000 Suwon volunteers are contributing efforts to break down barriers between classes and achieve social integration."