Sahmyook University recently held a performance presentation for the Sahmyook Village Project and reported the results of the past three years of the project. According to the report, the project involved 389 enrolled students in providing 696 care services to 167 people in need.

Sahmyook Village is a project in which students develop care services themselves and register them to an online platform to find and match local beneficiaries. The project is attracting attention as a model in the educational field that applies ‘community care,’ which breaks away from facilities and builds a care system for each region at the village level.

Sahmyook University first established a dedicated online platform, the SU-Care Shop, which matches students, the care providers, with beneficiaries. When students develop services according to the needs of the beneficiaries, have them expert-verified, and register them on the platform, the beneficiaries or community center officials can search for and apply for the services they need.

The university then launched a content development project that supports students to develop into care service developers. The project provided students with a course of lectures on care-related issues including care philosophy, care ethics, and care economy, as well as tips for starting a business for them to be able to expand their care shop into a social enterprise. Student developers were also given an opportunity to have their care services undergo a feasibility study by community care officials and practitioners.

Among the various care service developments by different teams, services called “The Elderly and Sahmyook” and “Dream Laundry” have received a commendation from the Nowon District Mayor for contributing to addressing issues of those who are neglected in terms of welfare in the local community.