Bridge of Difficult Circumstances

Meaningful work

The family of Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Loan (Dien Lac commune, Dien Khanh district) is in difficult circumstances, raising 2 young children and taking care of her elderly mother. Meanwhile, Ms. Loan's shrimp peeling job is erratic, earning only 2 million VND per month, so the family's life is always lacking. When understanding the situation, staff of the Provincial Center for Social Protection and Social Work approached and connected with Holt International Children's Services in Vietnam to support the family's livelihood, in order to create conditions to maintain the education of Ms. Loan's 2 children. With the support of more than 7 million VND, Ms. Loan bought chickens, food and built a barn; the remaining money was used to buy school supplies for her children. Ms. Loan said: “I am very grateful to the Provincial Center for Social Protection and Social Work for connecting and creating conditions for me to take care of my two children and develop my family economy. I will try to raise livestock and expand the scale, creating more income to take care of my children's education.”

Staff of the Provincial Center for Social Protection and Social Work presented livelihood support to the family of Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Loan.

Ms. Loan is just one of hundreds of disadvantaged cases that the Provincial Center for Social Protection and Social Work has approached and connected with timely support. Since 2015, each year, the center has connected and supported more than 200 disadvantaged cases. Of which, connecting and supporting scholarships each year for more than 160 children, supporting preschool costs for 40 cases, supporting 5 single mothers and livelihoods for more than 50 cases with a total cost of more than 1 billion VND/year. In addition, through the project to support tuberculosis patients in the community, from 2018 to now, the center has connected and supported 100 patients/year. The project not only helps patients and their families enjoy support services but also raises awareness in the community about methods to prevent the spread of tuberculosis. Through the Project Access to Mental Health Services Initiatives for Depression, the center has provided support to 120 cases of mild depression. After 1 year of implementing the project, most of the patients have had many positive changes.

Not only that, the Provincial Center for Social Protection and Social Work also called for and mobilized resources to build a Children's Protection Fund to support and help children in difficult circumstances. In 2024 alone, the unit mobilized more than 900 million VND in cash. Since then, it has supported scholarships for 24 children of single mothers in difficult circumstances; supported warm blankets for 170 children in Khanh Vinh district; provided emergency subsidies for 29 children; donated thousands of gifts to poor children... In addition, the center also mobilized and connected with sponsors to directly support more than 2.1 billion VND for poor children in the province; consulted, connected and assisted on social assistance policies, livelihoods, marriage and family, and employment for nearly 300 cases. The center has done a good job of consulting, approaching and completing procedures to receive 133 emergency protection cases. All cases are recorded, health checked, family and local authorities contacted for return and custody according to regulations...

Improve the quality of operations

Ms. Nguyen Dinh Hong Loan - Director of the Provincial Center for Social Protection and Social Work said that over the years, the unit has always played a good role as a bridge to support, advise and solve social work problems for disadvantaged people in the whole province. The unit's social work activities have always received attention, support and facilitation from leaders at all levels and the active and enthusiastic participation of staff and social work collaborators in communes, wards and towns. Social work activities are increasingly professional and have achieved positive results, contributing to improving knowledge and skills for local staff and subjects in solving problems encountered in life. However, currently, the number of disadvantaged people in need of assistance is increasing, while the number of social workers is still small, so there are many difficulties in connecting, assisting and providing social work services. Along with that, the team of social workers and collaborators have not been trained in depth and do not have much experience; many people have to perform many tasks and change frequently, so the implementation of social work activities is interrupted, the quality of services has not achieved the desired results...

Staff of the Provincial Center for Social Protection and Social Work take care of disadvantaged children raised at the unit.

To improve the quality of operations, in the coming time, the center will focus on coordinating with Holt International Children's Services in Vietnam to promptly assess and support children from families in difficult circumstances, single mothers without shelter in the province. At the same time, effectively implement the Project on Access to Initiatives on Mental Health Services Due to Depression; strengthen propaganda and training to improve social work capacity at the grassroots level. In addition, innovate and improve the reception of information and advice for subjects on social assistance policies, livelihoods, marriage and family, employment, domestic violence, victims of abuse; promptly assist and refer cases in need of emergency protection; provide consultation and therapy for people with mental disorders, psychological crises and physical rehabilitation for subjects... All aim to support subjects to integrate into the community and stabilize their lives; Mobilize social resources to assist vulnerable people in the province...

VAN GIANG

Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/xa-hoi/202503/cau-noi-cuanhung-hoan-canh-kho-khan-ab23f7b/