Gwangmyeong City Develops National-Leading Welfare Model Through 'Just Dream' Program
[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Yoo Je-sung] Acting Mayor Choi Hye-min of Gwangmyeong City introduced the on-site welfare model of Gwangmyeong's 'Just Dream' project to Minister of Health and Welfare Jung Eun-kyung on the 21st, expressing his commitment to spreading the best practices.
Acting Mayor Choi visited the Gwangmyeong Food Bank Market Center, where the city's 'Just Dream' project is being implemented, and inspected the operational site with Minister Jung on the afternoon of that day, explaining the city's proactive on-site welfare system for discovering crisis households.
Minister Jung's visit came ahead of the full-scale rollout of the 'Just Dream' project in May, during which she sought to listen to voices from the field by visiting local governments effectively operating the project and reflect best practices in policy.
The 'Just Dream' project is a community-focused welfare program that provides basic food to citizens facing sudden crises without any conditions, thereby swiftly alleviating emergency situations. Beyond simple support, its core mission is to detect crisis households early and link them to public welfare services.
The city is effectively implementing the government's 'Just Dream' project based on field experience accumulated since the 2021 'Gyeonggi Province Food Just Dream' project.
In particular, the city is receiving recognition as implementing the government's current 'Just Dream' project most effectively based on rich field experience accumulated since the 2021 'Gyeonggi Province Food Just Dream' project. Additionally, the city has directly undertaken case management and maximized the effectiveness of support by connecting a significant number of users to public welfare services.
In fact, since the opening of the 'Just Dream' corner on December 1st last year, cumulative usage reached a total of 4,195 cases as of April 20th. The number of unique users, excluding repeat visits, stands at 2,368.
Among these, 385 users, representing approximately 16.3%, were linked to welfare consultations at their respective dong administrative welfare centers, and 175 of them have completed receipt of necessary welfare services.
This counseling referral achievement ranks highest among the 13 'Just Dream' corners established throughout Gyeonggi Province.
Furthermore, other local governments including Geumcheon-gu, Osan City, and Uijeongbu City have successively visited the site to benchmark Gwangmyeong City's operational know-how, and national interest is expanding with not only visits but also continuous phone inquiries.
Acting Mayor Choi conveyed his commitment, stating, "Moving forward, through on-site and close administrative support, we will proactively discover crisis households and strengthen the functions of the food bank market center and Just Dream project to establish it as the nation's leading welfare model."
The city plans to enhance welfare functions by expanding shelters for user convenience and professional counseling spaces at the food bank market center during its planned facility relocation.
Minister Jung highly commended Gwangmyeong City's systematic welfare linkage system and encouraged the local government's active efforts to discover blind spots in welfare coverage.
Acting Mayor Choi stated, "Through close cooperation with the central government, we will further strengthen the safety net in welfare coverage" and added, "We will concentrate all administrative capacity to ensure that not a single citizen is left behind."