Seoul's Seongbuk-gu launched an intensive summer outreach campaign to identify vulnerable households and close welfare blind spots amid a prolonged heatwave, district Mayor Lee Seung-ro announced.
The campaign was designed to proactively reach vulnerable residents whose health and livelihoods face heightened risk during the extreme summer heat.
The district's community welfare network, established in October 2022, draws on 122 resident volunteers from all 20 neighborhoods who know their local areas well and are committed to public service. The network conducts outreach every month and intensifies its efforts in summer and winter, when hardship among vulnerable groups tends to worsen.
During the campaign, volunteers fanned out across residential streets and alleyways in each neighborhood, posting welfare assistance notices on mailboxes and door handles in housing-vulnerable areas. They also visited frequently used local businesses — real estate offices, convenience stores, hair salons, clinics and pharmacies — to explain how to report a household in crisis and walk through the referral process.
Key information shared during the outreach covered online reporting channels, including the "Seongbuk Huimang Talk" app and the "Welfare Crisis Alert" app; telephone hotlines, including the Ministry of Health and Welfare (☎129) and the Seoul Metropolitan Government's safe-care line (☎120); and the distribution of promotional materials on welfare blind-spot detection. Residents who spot a neighbor in difficulty can file a report through a smartphone app or by phone.
"We will look after vulnerable households with great care so that no resident has to endure hardship alone in this relentless heat," district Mayor Lee said. "We will continue to work closely with our community welfare volunteers to quickly find and thoroughly support neighbors in need, strengthening the safety net that protects our community."
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