"Together as a young man preparing for self-reliance"... "Youth Green Convenience Store" opens its first store.

[Anchor]
There are young people who stay in child care facilities or foster homes and have to live alone when they turn 18.

They are young people preparing for self-reliance.

A unique convenience store has emerged to help them find employment and start-up activities.

Reporter Choi Myung-shin reports.

[Reporter]
It is the 'Youth Green Convenience Store' that first opened in Anyang, Gyeonggi-do last month.

To help young people preparing for self-reliance, the Gyeonggi-do Social Economy Institute, convenience store company 7-Eleven, and social enterprise Brothers Coffee joined forces.

Although it seems little different from any other convenience store, it is a special vocational training space for Park Sang-min, who dreams of self-reliance.

From product sales to display and store cleaning, we are learning to work sincerely with the goal of becoming a future convenience store manager.

[Park Sang-min / Self-reliant young man: To learn as much as possible and experience as possible to become a person who is ready when an opportunity comes and start like that....]

Here, five young people preparing for self-reliance like Sang-min are sweating in search of their dreams.

In the corner of the convenience store, there is also a corner that collects and sells products from social enterprises.

Some of the proceeds from the sale of the product will be used again as a support fund for young people preparing for self-reliance.

The project began with the "Social Environmental Problem Solving Support Project" conducted by the Gyeonggi-do Social Economy Institute.

[Kim Min-seok / Business Director, Gyeonggi-do Social Economy Institute: There are not many opportunities for social enterprises and private organizations to meet. Our Gyeonggi-do Social Economy Institute played a role in synergy (when the private and social economic organizations meet) by creating a place where they can meet together and supporting the necessary budget.

The Gyeonggi Social Economy Institute and Brothers Coffee plan to support store management, education, and start-ups to participants in the project, while 7-Eleven plans to provide mentoring and employment benefits.

I'm YTN's Choi Myung Shin.