Preventing “urban isolation”. Started a project to “make the community our home” with support from Sekisui House
*Green Grass Field*
Press release: September 3, 2024
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Preventing “urban isolation”. Started a project to “make the community our home” with support from Sekisui House
*~A community where families with children, young people, and the elderly can connect and rely on with peace of mind~*
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Aokusanohara, a general incorporated association (located in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Representative Director: Kotoko Fujita,
hereinafter referred to as “the corporation”), is a general incorporated association that works to create a place for young people and child-rearing households such as single-parent households. In Shinjuku Ward, where the problem is becoming more serious, Sekisui House Co., Ltd. (location: Kita-ku, Osaka, President and CEO: Yoshihiro Nakai, hereinafter referred to as “Sekisui House”) is working to increase mutual interaction among the local community and increase reliable places to stay in the area. ) as part of our matching program. *
* Preventing eating alone, dying alone, and becoming isolated in Shinjuku Ward, which has the highest number of single-person households in the 23 wards*
A dinner party was held for a wide range of age groups, from children to adults, at an elderly woman’s home in Shinjuku Ward.
Shinjuku Ward has a strong impression of being an office and entertainment district, but it is also home to 350,000 residents*1. Shinjuku Ward, where our company is based, has a single-person household rate of 67.8%, the highest of the 23 wards*2, and is characterized by a weakening of connections between residents. The “isolation” caused by “families” and “homes” being confined to their homes can also cause children and the elderly to eat alone, and young people with nowhere to go to access high-risk downtown areas. .
In the two and a half years since our establishment, we have been creating a place where everyone can be together, focusing on young people such as parents and children raising children in Shinjuku Ward, students, and working adults in their 20s and 30s. I’m here. From that experience, I have learned that in order to create a society where children and young people do not have to go to high-risk downtown areas like Toyoko, we need to build connections with local residents and prevent households from becoming isolated, giving them a place they can rely on. I have come to realize that it is necessary to increase the number of people.
Launching a project to make the area “home”
In order to comprehensively prevent “eating alone” and “isolation” in Shinjuku Ward, and to solve these problems, our corporation creates mechanisms such as holding dinner parties with local residents, and provides support for children and children. We will promote
interaction between adults and work to make the community a “place you can rely on with peace of mind” = “home.”
This initiative will be carried out with support from the “Sekisui House Matching Program,” which is one of Sekisui House Co., Ltd.’s CSR activities.
Our corporation aims to expand the “place of belonging” where each person can feel valued, loved, and feel at ease, without being bound by the traditional framework of “family” or “home.” We believe that by collaborating with Sekisui House, whose global vision is to “make our home the happiest place in the world,” we can have an even greater impact than ever before.
[Sekisui House Matching Program]
https://www.sekisuihouse.co.jp/matching/
This is a joint donation system between Sekisui House Group employees and the company that started in 2006.
Starting with this year’s grant, we have launched a new system that combines ideas for improving society proposed by Sekisui House Group employees with the activities of non-profit organizations, in order to realize a better society through co-creation with local communities. Through this system, we will support organizations active in local communities with both ideas and grants, and work together as partners to create a society and environment where the children of the future can continue to live happily.
For more information: https://www.sekisuihouse.co.jp/matching/ [Project overview]
– Implementing entity: Aokusanohara General Incorporated Association – Location: Held at Lemon House in Nishi-Shinjuku, our base, and at the homes of our collaborators in Shinjuku Ward. We plan to increase the number of locations during the implementation period.
– Event plan: Held at two or more locations simultaneously on the last Saturday of each month. More than 12 times in one year. –
Target audience: Approximately 30 people per meal (15 people x 2 locations) x 12 meals = Over 360 people in total were provided with the opportunity to eat. Children, parents and children, the elderly, and young people who live in or near Shinjuku Ward are invited. –
Purpose: To create a place where local residents who tend to be isolated can feel safe and connect with others by reducing “eating alone” and increasing opportunities for “eating together.” We will increase mutual interaction in the local community and places where people can feel safe and rely on, create a point of contact for children, young people, parents, and the elderly, and provide support to prevent “isolation.”
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What we aim for: Creating a local community where people can deepen their interactions while sharing a meal. Promote health promotion and regional revitalization through food. Participants are mainly local elementary and junior high school students, but also a variety of adults, including their parents, siblings, and local residents, to prevent isolation between parents and children, and to ensure children can learn and feel safe through a variety of encounters. By building relationships with each other and with local residents, participants will have more options for where they can go and who they can talk to when they are in trouble.
[Contact information/Overview of our company]
Aokusanohara General Incorporated Association
A place where each person can feel valued, loved, and feel safe. A place where you can get the nutrition and rest you need to live. Creating and expanding such opportunities and encounters.
We are based in Lemon House, a detached house in Nishi-Shinjuku.
– Address: 2F Nishi-Shinjuku Mizuma Building, 3-3-13
Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0023
– Representative Director: Kotoko Fujita
– Established: December 2021
– Contact point: info@aokusa.or.jp <#>
– Homepage: https://aokusa.or.jp/
【remarks】
Reported by Mainichi Shimbun, Yomiuri Shimbun, Tokyo Shimbun, Shueisha Online, etc.
The representative director has many presentations such as the Commons Social Entrepreneurs Forum.
We have a track record of grants such as the Youth Encouragement Fund and the Impressive Experience Support Fund.
-source-
*1 Shinjuku Ward homepage:
https://www.city.shinjuku.lg.jp/kusei/index02_101.html
(2024/7/28)
*2 Statistics Bureau Homepage/2020 Census/Survey results:
https://www.stat.go.jp/data/kokusei/2020/kekka.html (2024/7/28)