Hello.
This is Seong-oh Chang, CEO of the social enterprise, Welfare Union Co., Ltd.
I have worked as a social worker for ten years at community centers for the elderly and nursing homes.
I learned that for the elderly, healthy meals are a prerequisite to enjoying life and having delicious meals
in a comfortable atmosphere is the key to happiness.
However many seniors, especially those who live alone, are unable to enjoy a delicious meal
or get enough nutrition due to emotional and economical feasibility.
Moreover, many seniors have difficulty chewing and swallowing food due to various diseases and aging,
and are living painful last years as they must rely on nasogastric feeding tubes for survival.
I witnessed these situations first hand when I visited nursing homes as a social worker in one of the fastest aging countries in the world, Japan.
I saw that the various customized elderly-friendly foods that the Japanese nursing homes provided made the seniors happy,
which inspired me to establish my own social enterprise to help the Korean elderly who have trouble chewing and swallowing food.
At the time, many Korean food companies hesitated to develop elderly-friendly foods due to the concern that it would not be profitable.
However, I decided to tackle the issue head-on.
Having no experience in the food industry, I established the social enterprise Welfare Union with the belief that all senior citizens should be able to eat happy meals regardless of physical conditions and economic feasibility.
My company developed the first Korean “Hyoban Primer Food (six types)”,
Opened a regional restaurant for nurturing and caring the elderly called “Open Kitchen”,
Developed a program called “Silver Screening” to use as a tool for observing eating habits exclusively for the elderly,
and has fostered “senior food coordinators” through a private certification process to bring together experts in welfare for the elderly,
food and nutrition in order to realize the vision of creating a better and happier experience when it comes to eating for the elderly.
as my mother who passed away from chronic diabetes complications
and my father who always tells me not to worry are the very reason why I cannot give up on this business despite difficult conditions.
Welfare Union will become a company that works sincerely for the health of elderly people who have difficulty chewing and swallowing
so that they can eat happy and delicious meals through various customized elderly-friendly foods regardless of their physical condition and economic feasibility.
We as for your support.
1. Developing and disseminating customized elderly-friendly food considering the human rights of the elderly
2. Implementing the infrastructure for meal services for integrated care for local communities
3. Training experts through the course of meal care education for the elderly
Respect for humans
Community
Solidarity