Stefan lost a lot, but retained his optimism ...
What started "simply" with a divorce ended in economic homelessness. Due to a fateful confluence of circumstances, Stefan van Dijk was no longer registered in the Netherlands. Now he is rebuilding his life. One of the people helping him do so is Mirjam Hasselt, a social worker with De Regenboog Groep.
Stefan van Dijk (49): "A construction company of my own, married and three sons. But after my divorce, my life changed. I lived with acquaintances. Then again here, then again there. At the beginning of 2021, I rented a boat on IJburg. It turned out to have a gas leak. When I lit a cigarette, the boat exploded and I was thrown out into the water. I remember being taken away by a helicopter. After a month I woke up, in Burns Center Beverwijk. There I had been kept asleep. I had survived, thank God. But forty percent of my body had been burned."
In the bandages at Amsterdam Central Station
.Stefan continued: "When I came out of the hospital, I had lost everything: identity card, phone, bank card. I was no longer insured. And to my great surprise, it turned out that I was no longer registered in the Netherlands." Mirjam: "A problem that happens more often in divorces." Stefan: "My ex-wife had stayed in the house in Wijk bij Duurstede with my youngest son. I had deregistered from that municipality and stayed in different places after that." Mirjam: "So Stefan had no permanent address where he was registered and got out of the system." Stefan: "I had to prove that I had been in the Netherlands all that time and prove that I was the person I claimed to be. That took me six months. I was renting a small room in Amsterdam-Noord at the time. Until my money ran out. Because of the accident, I couldn't work anymore. So my business had gone bankrupt and the debts were piling up. I ended up on the street. I still had to go to the hospital regularly for treatment. During the day I had skin grafts. At night I was in bandages at Amsterdam Central Station, where I tried to sleep, if I wasn't sent away by the police."
Already a higher rating
After this low point, Stefan got in touch with De Regenboog Groep through Buurtteam Zuid and was able to temporarily stay at the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel. This was arranged through GiveMe5, a collaborative project between The Present Movement, De Regenboog and a number of Amsterdam hotels to accommodate the homeless. Since January 2023, social worker Mirjam of our Urban Team Economic Homelessness (STED) has been assisting Stefan with advice and support. Mirjam: "Stefan has found temporary shelter in various places. Now he is staying at the Hilton again for a while, until there is room in HVO-Querido's transient hotel. We have been working on an urgency for some time, but that is not easy, with fifteen thousand economically homeless people still in the city." Stefan concludes, "My life is already better now than it was a few years ago. Back then I would give it a rating of 6, now an 8.5." Miriam: "Stefan is admirably positive and strong." Stefan: "These were hectic years, but because of that I started to look at things differently. I feel freer in my head, I don't look any further than tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."
A solid foundation with STED (Urban Team Economic Homelessness)
.Aid worker Mirjam Hasselt: "Our counseling of the economically homeless is all about time and attention; about making sure someone stays seen. First we put the basics in order: obtaining a letter address and arranging DigiD, health insurance, banking, debt assistance and temporary shelter. Then we see where someone has a chance of finding housing. After that, we keep a finger on the pulse and occasionally do something fun as a group, then we go to neighborhood restaurant De Gravin, sailing or to a concert, for example."
For more information or help: www.deregenboog.org/tijdelijk-wonen