00:04Volunteers pack frozen Lunar New Year dishes into boxes.
00:08These helpers from the Foundation for Childless Aging People
00:11have taken care of elderly residents in the Lingkou District of New Taipei for over five years.
00:17On this morning, they were on a mission to send this food to 30 seniors
00:21who live alone in Taishan District across the mountains.
00:31Mr. Chen lives the closest.
00:33Now age 70, he moved to the Taipei area from rural Taidong in his 20s to look for better work.
00:40In the last few years, he will collect and sell recyclables for some cash,
00:45usually making no more than 65 U.S. dollars a month.
00:49That's until his heart problems affected his work,
00:52causing him to rely on government allowances that are barely enough for him to make ends meet.
01:17With no income and in poor health, Chen says he's just living day to day.
01:22Over his three decades living here,
01:24his monthly rent has gone up by almost 100 U.S. dollars,
01:28and he couldn't negotiate a lower rate.
01:53Mr. Chen is not the only senior struggling to make ends meet and keep a roof over his head.
02:00Do you want to go to your house?
02:04Surrounded by plots of empty land and amid narrow alleyways lives Mr. Wang.
02:13At the age of 82, Wang can climb the stairs without breaking a sweat.
02:17But his asthma and years of smoking sometimes make it hard for him to breathe.
02:43Wang has been through two divorces and has two adult sons. Neither of them has offered him support.
02:50For 30 years, he's been on his own. He moved into this shared apartment after other landlords rejected him for
02:57his old age and lack of stable income.
03:00He said the rental conditions here are not ideal, but he had no other choice.
03:04I was born in the age of two. Now we have to find a house.
03:09The house is very difficult. This is why a lot of old people are talking about.
03:16We have to deal with the house at 3 or 5 times.
03:20The health problem is very bad.
03:23He said, no, you should have to clean it up.
03:26People living alone like Chen and Wang make up over a quarter of Taiwan's elderly population.
03:32That's over a million people, many of whom need assistance.
03:37But only 63,000 seniors are on the government care list.
03:41And only 19,000 of them have medium or low income status, which grants them extra benefits.
03:47The Foundation for Childless Aging People hopes most of them can eventually move into social housing,
03:53where there is substantial care in a community for them to be part of.
03:57But not everyone can secure a room.
04:00Some of them even refuse to leave their current homes.
04:03Because they are used to live in one person, they don't want to go back.
04:06Of course, now the house is very full.
04:08Now there are 500-600 people in the house.
04:11It's very full.
04:12We are in the capacity of their ability,
04:15even in his house.
04:17In his house, we have a small kitchen.
04:19We have to take care of him.
04:21We will be able to apply for a home.
04:25The new Taipei city government has been offering various services
04:28and working with civic groups to find more people who have slid through the social safety net.
04:34But until there's enough social housing units available
04:36or more support for elderly renters,
04:39any care services may seem like a band-aid, not a cure.
04:43Alex Chen and Irene Lin for Taiwan Plus.
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