On AT5 - End of user bus service causes unrest among addicts: "We feel abandoned"
Delen
The Dwaalgast, which was located in front of the OLVG-Oost, has been off the street since June 29. In April, it was announced that the mobile walk-in centre would have to leave by the end of June. We are deeply saddened that the Dwaalgast is no longer available as a safe place for vulnerable neighborhood residents and homeless people struggling with addiction.
Header photo: Marlise Steeman
We hope for a permanent location where people from the neighborhood can go for help, medical care, clean restroom facilities, and a listening ear. Until then, we’ll try to stay in touch with the people who visited the Dwaalgast. We hope a new spot for the mobile service bus will be found soon—and, even better, that the municipality will be able to secure a suitable permanent location.
Read below the AT5 article.
End of user bus service causes unrest among addicts: "We feel abandoned"
Written by: Trix Pieterse, published on AT5 on June 29
Photography: AT5
Drug users are worried about their future now that the user bus has to leave its spot in front of OLVG Oost. The planned new location was scrapped following protests from the neighborhood, and tomorrow the bus will move to the warehouse.
“Where do you want us to go?” wonders one of the bus’s visitors. “Tomorrow I’ll be back in the park, and people will start complaining again,” he says.
After today, the De Regenboog Groep user bus will return to the warehouse. They had been promised they could stay on the square in front of the OLVG through June 29, until a new location was found. A temporary location was even secured for a short time on the Linneausstraat side, but that fell through following protests from the neighborhood.
So there’s no new spot for the approximately 300 bus users. And that’s a major concern for Anika Apfel of De Regenboog Groep, especially since the users will then no longer receive medical care.
“The people who gather here now and help each other will scatter again,” says a man who smokes crack daily on the bus. “And they’ll disappear from view for a while.”
Permanent drop-in center
It is unclear whether a new location will be found for the bus, or how long this situation will last. A spokesperson for the district office states that they prefer a permanent drop-in center rather than a bus. There are currently four such centers scattered throughout the city.
Apfel also hopes that a permanent drop-in center will open soon in Oost. “That will ultimately bring much more peace of mind to this target group.”