Volunteer Ineke chose to include De Regenboog Groep in her will and leave some of her assets to us. Very special. And very grateful. Why did she do this? An interview with Ineke.
So you are leaving part of your assets to us. How did you come to do this?
"Well, assets ..., that what's left ...," jokes Ineke. "I am not married and have no children. When I was furnishing my new place to live ten years ago, I thought to myself: what will the people who come to clear out my house when I am no longer there?
For this I asked my sister's children and two friends from Amsterdam. Then you have to make decisions and finances also come into play. My sister's children get nothing. They have very good jobs and earn enough. But their children receive a supplement to their savings for studying. The rest goes to charity."
Ineke has selected three charities that represent her own interests: something medical, something with art and culture, and as a social goal De Regenboog Groep. You can do so much, but at a certain point you have to make choices.
This is how I see a little bit of what is going on. And that little bit is already so important!
And so why was De Regenboog Groep specifically chosen?
"I have been volunteering for De Regenboog Groep for a long time. This way I see a little bit of what is happening. And that little bit is already so important!"
Ineke once started with debt assistance. "Horrible, when you see how finances can control your life. As a volunteer, I assisted single mothers, as well as Turkish and Moroccan families. They couldn't read correspondence properly and therefore just put everything away. Then, of course, they got into terrible trouble.
I helped them get into arrangements. And it's not that I do this. The Regenboog does this! I am just a tiny part of the whole thing. You help all these different people. Like the homeless in Westerpark. Isn't that fantastic: those walk-in centres! That they can eat and shower there."
You indicate that the variety of De Regenboog Groep appeals to you so much. You are currently doing something different for us yourself?
"Yes, right now I am seeing a man in his 40s with mental health problems. He has threshold anxiety. We do fun things together. And we talk ... He then indicates that it helps him tremendously. But it cuts both ways. I enjoy going out with him just as much; I am also just a single person. So I benefit from it myself as well."
Ineke is therefore adamant that she does not do anything special. "Occasionally I say, 'But I don't do anything for you, do I?' To which he then replies that, on the contrary, I mean a lot to him. I don't dig into his problems. I don't know anything about that. It is the easiest job there is. I just go out on the street with someone I really like.
As a volunteer, I have assisted single mothers as well as Turkish and Moroccan families.
How did you actually ever get in touch with our foundation?
"I come from an education background. After retirement, I first spent 2.5 years biking around the world. First through Costa Rica to learn Spanish and then I went to Cuba, where I could apply my Spanish nicely. I cycled from the Netherlands to Santiago de Compostella and traveled by bicycle through Thailand for ten weeks. Cycling through Portugal, I suddenly thought: what am I doing now? What am I going to do next? Just keep on cycling? I was looking for a different purpose in my retired life.
Through a stall at a market I came across De Regenboog Groep. Furthermore, I once walked the Amsterdam Underground Tour. This is a tour of the inner city, given by former homeless people and addicts, about their life on the streets. That was so special. When you then hear what kind of life those people have had. Unbelievable how it can all go so wrong. They are so happy that De Regenboog Groep helped them at the time, so now they are doing something again, have a goal and contact with people, from whom they get a lot of sympathy back."
Text: Jola Gosen | Photo Ineke: Bas Evers
Also bequeathing?
Are you considering including De Regenboog Groep in your will? And would you like to discuss this further? Then please contact Fré Meijer,
email: fmeijer@deregenboog.org or phone: 020 531 76 14 (direct).