Chongliao Township of Nantou County is separated into south and north parts, the North-Chongliao is spread of Longan trees and used call "Long-Yan-Lin". Like most of the rural townships, the young people move out for better life, especially worse after the "921 Earthquake"in 1999. Now, Chongliao Township has up to 23% population are elderly people as a super-aged township.

Even so, the elderly people in Chongliao are the happiest group. From Monday to Friday, they "go to work" at the day care center Evergreen Vitality Station, where they measure their blood pressure, exercise, write and doodle, sing and dance, etc. At lunchtime, they eat together around a table, chatting with more than 30 classmates, and then they "leave work" and go home for a lunch break. Look at the happy smiles of these "Old Youth" in the photo, they are enviable.

As A Pioneer to Start Meal Delivery and Elderly Care Service after the 921 Earthquake

The Association was founded after the 921 Earthquake. At the time, there were 80% of the houses collapsed in the Village. Mr. Zhen-yi Liao, who was the Village Chief of Long'an village and now is the Executive Director of Long-Yan-Lin Welfare Association, rushed out of his house to escape from death. He immediately gathered several men to rescue 27 villagers in 3 hours, then found himself only wearing underpants for the rescuing. Since then, the story of "Underpants Love" has spread.

Everything needs to rebuild after the Earthquake but needs to feed the people first. Mr. Liao gathered the women in the village to set up a public kitchen and started the meal delivery service to those inconveniences in mobility. After the disaster, the exodus of young people increased extremely and the elderly people were left without care. So, in March 2000 the Association further launched the elderly day care.

The elderly day care has evolved into "Evergreen Vitality Station" and the meal delivery service for the elderly has been running for 22 years without interruption. Both services are common services throughout the country today. The rescued action for needy is a pioneering act of the country. Even the government officers admired Mr. Liao's foresight: "The government policy is following you!"

With day care and meal delivery as the two main pillars, Long-Yan-Lin Welfare Association was officially established in July 2017. So far, the Association's business has expanded to charity foundations, community building, and local Agriproduct's marketing. The surplus is reinvested in the social welfare of elderly people and children care.

Delivering More Than 2.2 million Meal Boxes Even During the COVID-19 Epidemic

The meal delivery area includes the 18 villages of Chongliao Township and delivers 2 meals, about a total of 300 meal boxes per day. In the past 22 years, no matter the typhoon, cold stream, or mountain step, the deliverer rode a million miles in 5 hours per day to deliver those meals boxes without interruption even during the COVID-19 epidemic.

Evergreen Vitality Station and the other 5 care centers which the Association operates also organize special activities such as Christmas Costumes, New Year hot pot dinner and lottery, and annual sports day which are well received by the villagers. During the COVID-19 epidemic, it released a practical and interesting hand-washing video in Taiwanese.

In 2006, the Association replicated its business experience outside and established Long-Yan-Lin Welfare Charity Foundation in Taichung City. The Foundation assists the government to take care of the disadvantaged groups in Daya, Tanzi, Shengang, and Houli districts. It provides Home-delivered meals, Respite Care, High-risk family care counseling (includes Nantou County), as well as organized care service training.

Committed to Agriproducts OEM and Marketing then Giving Back to the Welfare Services Through the Industry

The Association's main income is from the Agriproducts OEM and Marketing. The OEM part started in the 4^th year after the Earthquake while the government ran out of funds for the reconstruction and social donations. Therefore, the Association's staff decided to develop an agricultural processing business to self-raise the funds. It started from baking local Longan. Long-Yan-Lin Agriproduct Company which was established by the Association is responsible for baking all kinds of dried candied fruits which include smoked plum in April, lychee in June, longan in August, and roselle in December.

In addition to sales income, the OEM business also brings job opportunities. Among them, the OEM "Ancient method baking plums" for Sinyi Township Dream Works of the Mei Factory has become a specialty of Long-Yan-Lin. After deduction of the wages, the business could generate about NT$600,000 to $700,000 surplus, and all of it will use for the public welfare funds.

Mr. Liao aged 73, was the director of a Bamboo processing factory in Lukang Township. He has considerable experience in the economy and management of the industry, especially in marketing and promotion. After the Earthquake disaster, he launched a computer classroom to teach online selling for farmers. Later, the classroom evolved into Long'an Digital Opportunity Center (DOC) assisting by the Institute for Information Industry (III). The villagers can learn in the Center and it also acts as an online marketing platform (Long'an DOC Social Enterprise Platform) to promote local Agriproducts and Agritourism. Because the business running early, Long'an DOC has accumulated customer trust. Now, it generates an annual income of about NT$2 million and be an important pillar which an Association transformed into a Social Enterprise.

The Association's revenue in 2020 was approximately NT$17 million, which has about 33% come from the industry business (Baking) income, 42% from donations, and meal delivery. The other 25% comes from government subsidies. For example, there are about 170 elderly people receive meal delivery services, but only 10% of them are eligible for the subsidies. Although there has income from self-pay meal delivery (free for those in difficult circumstances), the Association cannot balance its salaries for the 7 chefs and deliverers. The monthly day care service only charges NT$500, which is far less than the costs of manpower and materials.

In fact, if there were no external donations, the Association would lose more than NT$7 million annually. In 2020, since the Association was affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, the external donations shrunk. Fortunately, Ting Hsin Hote Foundation doubled its donation of NT$2 million and 3 motorcycles to alleviate the Association’s financial difficulties. In addition to the Foundation's long-term support, there still have hundreds of small and material donations to the Association till now.

Use Social Welfare to Drive Local Employment and Transform into Social Enterprises

Thanks to the Association's efforts, Long'an Village won the Taiwan Excellent Community Industry Award in 2006, making the poorest and most miserable village of Nantou into a national benchmark.

"The Ministry of Labor (MOL) done a lot to Today's Long-Yan-Lin.", Mr. Liao said. The post-disaster reconstruction relied on Multi-Employment Promotion Program (MEPP) provided temporary job subsidies to meet the needs of local manpower. Later, following Sustainable Employment Project of the Ministry of Labor, the Association developed the Agriproducts processing business creating the current business scale step by step.

The Association aims to implement "Aging in Place" by using "Locals take care of locals" method. For example, hiring local middle-aged residents to cook and deliver meals for the public kitchen.

On the other hand, the Association invites government social trainers to train the locals and gives them further studies. These ways keep the manpower more stable, create local employment, and have better services. Especially the service like elderly home visiting requires long-term trust development, which is not only a meal fulfillment but also an important part of community safety.

In addition, the Association hopes the 15 self-employed staff (the other 4 paid by the government) will not always be paid the basic salary, especially those who worked for 10 to 20 years. Therefore, although the financial situation was tough, the Association still sets up a pension fund for annual salary adjustments.

The Association is operating 6 Evergreen Vitality Stations and Care Points, those are continuing to transform and evolve with the Long-term Care Plan 2.0, and more government investment is expected. The Association is preparing for an affordable nursing center. Before the construction starts at the end of this year (2021), it hopes to raise the total amount of NT$60 million. The nursing center will accommodate up to 50 retired or nursing elderly customers, with less than NT$20,000 monthly fee making it affordable for the young generation.

▲Business Model

▲The Association must deliver 300 meal boxes every day.

▲Grandpa and Grandma happily gather and learn every day, a day passes quickly. (Picture Provide: Long-Yan-Lin Welfare Association)

Case story: Multi-Employment Promotion Program

Interviewee: Long-Yan-Lin Welfare Association

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Please attribute this article to “Workforce Development Agency, Ministry of Labor.”