DONATE THAT WHICH YOU YOURSELF ARE GOOD AT

Homeliness

Some forty people come to the villa daily, including many regular visitors, but some new faces also appear every month. Marinda and her team are in close contact with the necessary authorities: Zaanse authorities, GGD, Salvation Army, a family doctor who assists the uninsured ... Westerweide offers breakfast, lunch, hot meals, tea, coffee. "And not to forget sociability," says Marinda, "there are chickens here, a cat, a vegetable garden. People need to feel at home." Marinda, who has been with De Regenboog Groep for five and a half years, briefly outlines her previous career. That began in event organization and ended after seven years working as a manager at Jimmy Woo, long one of Amsterdam's hippest clubs. "A fun world, but also grueling ...and yet also kind of fake. De Regenboog is raw sometimes, but mostly very beautiful, and pure, and real. Adding a certain warmth and homeliness to this, that makes everyone better, including myself."

Special Window Cleaner

Here we add the unusual story of Wilco de Vries. Wilco decided to become a window cleaner in 1992. "Alone and nice and independent." That went fine. He even got De Telegraaf as a customer and they have a lot of windows there. Two years later he fell off the ladder and that put a line through his life plan. The option of starting a cleaning company tentatively knocked on the door and now his company Orion has a good hundred employees and prestigious clients such as NEMO and Madame Tussauds. Wilco: "In the family we mainly have a social background and not at all entrepreneurs. I am good with numbers, so I think that helps. And delivering quality as well. Doing what you promise. Zaankanters huh."

For nothing

And then Marinda called him for paid cleaning work at the villa. Wilco, whose company is based nearby, stopped by and experienced, in his words, "The atmosphere in Westerweide. Such nice people. I was received so warmly. A kind of security." After the conversation, he walked to his car. Thought a bit, walked back to the villa, and said, "I'm going to consult. He discussed things at the office and immediately drove back to Westerweide with the message, "I'll do it, and I'll do it for nothing. Wilco: "Look, we have it good. Our customers are happy. So are the people who work with us. My kids want to work in the business. What more could you want? You can contribute something to a walk-in centre where people work very hard for people who really need it. A place moreover where -you notice immediately- this is done with heart and soul." A compliment Marinda gladly accepts. And it is mutual: "Maybe it also has to do with distancing myself from the world I used to work in, but I really like orderly, neat, clean and cozy. Orion delivers that. And that works best in a setting like this. If we also hear that back from the visitor ... Kevin, who comes here often, said to us the other day, "I like it here so much. It's like being at home.' Something like that makes my day."