To tackle the challenges of an aging society and improve accessible, high-quality home and community care, Yunglong District in Xuzhou is advancing its "15-minute eldercare service circle" initiative. This effort follows the provincial standard for building and operating comprehensive urban street-level senior care centers (DB32/4183-2021), with careful planning for integrated community care facilities.
With dedicated funding from the Xuzhou Welfare Lottery public welfare fund, Hanfeng Subdistrict has established a high-standard, embedded medical-care facility that combines healthcare, senior living, and nursing support. This center strengthens a multi-tiered care system based on home services, supported by community resources and institutional care, all integrated with medical treatment, providing local seniors with a secure and happy retirement.
Located at Building 18, Jinde Jiayuan, No. 32 Fuqiang Road, Yunglong District, the Hanfeng Subdistrict Comprehensive Senior Care Center spans 1,480 square meters. It represents a key livelihood project embodying the Welfare Lottery's mission of "supporting the elderly, assisting the disabled, rescuing orphans, and relieving hardship." Over the years, Xuzhou Welfare Lottery has prioritized eldercare in its public welfare spending, supporting renovations, medical equipment purchases, smart eldercare systems, meal service facilities, and professional operations teams to address daily challenges like dining, care, healthcare access, and cultural enrichment for local seniors.
The center fully serves all elderly residents in Hanfeng Subdistrict, with a focus on frail, semi-disabled, isolated, empty-nest, and cognitively impaired seniors. It creates a community care base within a 15-minute walk, offering comprehensive services in one location.
A Warm Meal and More: Community Canteen Brings Care to Seniors
The community canteen, upgraded with Welfare Lottery funds, features an open, standardized kitchen where every step of food preparation is visible and monitored to ensure safety and build trust. The dining area can seat 50 to 100 seniors at a time, and the central kitchen can prepare and deliver over 500 meals daily. A smart meal assistance system has registered 931 local seniors, with a tiered support mechanism for different needs. Currently, the canteen serves around 350 seniors daily, using a network that combines the main canteen with multiple community distribution points. For those with mobility issues or living alone, the center offers delivery and takeout services, providing customized soft, low-salt meals that are easy to eat. These hot meals solve the challenge of daily dining for isolated seniors, highlighting the Welfare Lottery's commitment to practical care.
Integrated Medical and Elderly Care: Professional Support for a Healthy Later Life
Special Welfare Lottery funding has been invested in upgrading nursing beds, purchasing diagnostic and rehabilitation equipment, and ensuring round-the-clock nursing staff. The center has 40 nursing beds for seniors needing temporary or short-term care, offering differentiated services such as home visits and 24/7 on-site support. A professional nursing team is always available to respond to daily care and emergency needs. For seniors with dementia, a dedicated day-care area has been set up, equipped with rehabilitation tools and anti-wandering features, providing daily care, cognitive training, emotional support, and rest spaces—filling a critical gap in specialized care for this group. The center also includes a smart medical service area with departments for traditional Chinese medicine, internal medicine, ENT, dental, surgery, and rehabilitation therapy, along with remote consultation terminals. This allows seniors to receive diagnosis and rehabilitation treatment without leaving the community, ensuring seamless integration of eldercare, medical treatment, and recovery.
Bridging Generations: Enriching Seniors' Lives Through Culture and Learning
A comprehensive cultural service area features an innovative intergenerational space that accommodates both senior leisure and youth care. A "4:30 Classroom" offers after-school care and homework help for local children. The center collaborates with third-party social organizations to host special activities and create a platform for integrating special-needs children into the community, promoting mutual care between generations. For seniors, the center has a dedicated entertainment zone offering regular classes in painting, calligraphy, singing, dance, smartphone use, fraud prevention, and health education. Full-time social workers provide psychological counseling, emotional support, and personalized assistance, enriching seniors' daily lives and helping them achieve a fulfilling, joyful, and secure retirement.
As a key livelihood project backed by Xuzhou Welfare Lottery public welfare funds, the Hanfeng Subdistrict Comprehensive Senior Care Center strictly manages its funding, with all facilities and equipment clearly marked "Funded by Lottery Public Welfare Fund - China Welfare Lottery." The subdistrict regularly organizes community visits to showcase the impact of these funds and openly share service operations, reinforcing the credibility of the welfare lottery.
The successful operation of this center is a vivid example of Xuzhou Welfare Lottery's commitment to public welfare and improving people's livelihoods. Upholding the principle of "from the people, for the people," Xuzhou Welfare Lottery continues to raise funds legally and transparently, injecting sustained financial support and warmth into the city's social welfare and public service development. Beyond community eldercare and enhanced "senior care" services, the lottery fund also supports education for underprivileged students, emergency relief, child welfare, community building, and assistance for special groups—comprehensively addressing urgent needs and strengthening the social safety net.