ABSTRACT
Vefa Social Support Groups, which emerged during the pandemic, is mostly discussed with reference to social solidarity and cooperation both in the (social) media and in the literature. In fact, since these groups are organized under the coordination of public administration, it causes confusion about how to conceptualize these groups and their activities. They are sometimes conceptualized as a solidarity movement while sometimes considered as a grassroots organization practice. This study aims to contribute to the literature by way of discussing how to conceptualize local Vefa Social Groups within public administration literature. This study defines Vefa Social Support Groups as a public actor and conceptualizes its activities as a public service for citizens who cannot meet basic needs because of lockdown measures during epidemic. The newly emerged disadvantaged groups of the epidemic are now defined on the basis of ‘disease’ and ‘old age’ categories. In the second part of the study, the result of the citizen satisfaction survey – which is conducted to measure the overall citizen satisfaction and perception – is discussed. Within this context, (1) the perceptions of the citizens to whom Vefa Social Support Groups serve directly, (2) the perceptions of the citizens who never need to call social support groups and (3) the perceptions of the group members who carries out the services are analyzed in detail.