In response to the challenges of an aging population and the push to build a more convenient and high-quality home-community elderly care system, the Yunlong District of Xuzhou is advancing its "15-minute elderly care service circle" initiative.

Following the strict standards of Jiangsu Province's regulations for urban street-level comprehensive elderly care centers, the district has scientifically planned and developed integrated home-community elderly care complexes.

Supported by special funding from the Xuzhou Welfare Lottery Public Welfare Fund, Hanfeng Street has completed a high-standard, embedded medical-care-nursing integrated elderly care center, strengthening a multi-tiered service system that combines home-based care, community support, institutional care, and medical-nursing integration.

Located at Building 18, Jindejia Yuan, No. 32 Fuqiang Road, the Hanfeng Street Comprehensive Elderly Care Center covers 1,480 square meters and stands as a key livelihood project reflecting the Welfare Lottery's commitment to supporting the elderly, aiding the disabled, rescuing orphans, and relieving hardship.

For years, Xuzhou's Welfare Lottery has prioritized elderly care services in its public welfare fund allocations, fully supporting facility renovations, procurement of professional medical and nursing equipment, the construction of smart elderly care systems, the addition of meal assistance facilities, and the operational support of professional service teams.

The center addresses pressing issues such as dining difficulties, care challenges, medical access, and the lack of cultural and spiritual enrichment for local seniors, covering all elderly residents of Hanfeng Street with a focus on those who are disabled, semi-disabled, living alone, empty-nested, or suffering from cognitive impairment. The goal is to create a community-based elderly care hub that is reachable within a 15-minute walk and equipped with all necessary functions.

The warm community canteen delivers the Welfare Lottery's care for the elderly through hot meals. Renovated with public welfare funds, the canteen features an open kitchen design where the entire food processing flow is visible and supervised, ensuring food safety and building public trust.

The dining area can accommodate 50 to 100 seniors at a time, while the central kitchen has the capacity to prepare and deliver over 500 meals daily. A smart meal assistance management system has been established, with basic information of 931 registered seniors entered, and a tiered support mechanism is in place. Currently, the canteen serves around 350 elderly diners daily, operating a network that combines the main canteen with multiple community meal distribution points.

For disabled seniors with limited mobility and elderly individuals living alone, the center offers door-to-door meal delivery and takeaway services, providing soft, low-salt, nutritionally tailored meals that solve the daily dining challenges of the elderly, showcasing the warmth of the Welfare Lottery's public welfare efforts.

The full-chain integration of medical and elderly care ensures professional nursing for a healthy old age. Public welfare fund investment has been directed toward upgrading nursing beds, procuring diagnostic and rehabilitation equipment, and securing round-the-clock nursing staff. The center has 40 home-care nursing beds available for seniors needing temporary or short-term care, with services ranging from home visits to all-day on-site care.

A professional nursing team is on duty 24 hours a day, promptly responding to daily care and emergency rescue needs. A dedicated daytime care area for seniors with cognitive disorders has been established, equipped with professional rehabilitation tools and anti-wandering facilities, providing daily care, cognitive rehabilitation, emotional counseling, and rest opportunities. This fills a gap in professional care for seniors with cognitive impairment in the area.

The center also features a standardized smart medical-care service zone with departments of traditional Chinese medicine, internal medicine, ENT, dentistry, surgery, and rehabilitation physiotherapy, along with remote consultation terminals. This enables minor illness treatment and rehabilitation physiotherapy without leaving the community, closing the final gap in home-based elderly care and medical rehabilitation services, and achieving a seamless connection between elderly care, medical treatment, and rehabilitation.

The integrated space for both the young and the old enriches the cultural and spiritual lives of seniors. The comprehensive cultural service area creatively includes an intergenerational interaction space that serves both elderly leisure and youth care needs. A "4:30 classroom" provides after-school care and homework assistance for minors in the area. The center collaborates with third-party social organizations to host special public welfare activities and build a platform for special-needs children to integrate into the community, promoting mutual care between generations.

For the elderly, a dedicated cultural and entertainment zone has been established, offering regular public welfare courses such as calligraphy, painting, handicrafts, singing, dancing, smartphone training, fraud prevention education, and health lectures. Full-time social workers provide psychological counseling, emotional support, and personalized service connections, enriching the daily cultural and spiritual life of seniors and enabling them to learn, enjoy, and feel secure in their old age.

As a key livelihood project supported by the Xuzhou Welfare Lottery Public Welfare Fund, the Hanfeng Street Comprehensive Elderly Care Center manages the use of public welfare funds with full transparency and standardization. All service venues and supporting facilities are clearly marked with the "Public Welfare Fund Supported - China Welfare Lottery" label.

The street office regularly organizes visits for residents to showcase the results of public welfare fund usage and disclose service operations, continuously enhancing the social credibility of the Welfare Lottery. The launch of the Hanfeng Street Comprehensive Elderly Care Center is a vivid example and a model of Xuzhou's Welfare Lottery in fulfilling its public welfare mission and deepening its commitment to people's well-being.

Upholding the principle of "from the people, for the people," Xuzhou's Welfare Lottery continues to raise public welfare funds legally and in an orderly manner, injecting sustained financial momentum and warmth into the city's social welfare programs and various public welfare initiatives.

Beyond community elderly care services and enhancing care for the elderly, the Xuzhou Welfare Lottery Public Welfare Fund is also widely invested in educational assistance, emergency relief, child care, community development, and support for special groups, precisely addressing urgent public needs and comprehensively strengthening the foundation of people's livelihood security and the social welfare service system.