Bert Kok (60) found himself on the street because of a divorce. Through our Onder de Pannen department he was able to temporarily move in with Ingrid in Amstelveen. During this period of rest he found a house in Gouda. Moving away was not easy. But now he has found everything again: a home, a job, friends, and love.
Bert: "I had just had heart surgery, then things went wrong. She wanted me to split. Then suddenly you're economically homeless. You have a job, but no house. And in Amsterdam and the surrounding area, you don't get laid for the first thirty years."
Cup emptying
"That divorce made me focus entirely on cab driving. Behind the wheel I can really empty my head. Actually, I made my hobby my job. First I drove a truck, but lugging stuff around is bad for you. I wanted to keep driving, so I became a cab driver. In the beginning I only transported school children. You just can't keep a stove burning, so later I started doing daycare and wheelchair transport."
Building up
."After I left my ex, I first slept in hotels for a few weeks. During that time I saw an online article about living in an office building in Amstelveen. For people like me. Unfortunately, there was no more room there. But that's how I ended up at Onder de Pannen, and with Ingrid, where I stayed for about seven or eight months. This meant a basis from which I could build things up, a piece of rest. I was still recovering from heart surgery." In addition to roommates, Bert and Ingrid became friends. With her support and that of Onder de Pannen, Bert actively looked for a house and found it in Gouda. "Amstelveen you can forget. Amsterdam you can forget about. So then you have to broaden your horizons. I just didn't have anything here yet. Ingrid helped me move and do odd jobs: laying laminate, painting, hanging curtains."
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The economically homeless Bert found refuge in Gouda
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Then Bert found a job as a cab driver on the wheelchair bus in his new region and with it a new circle of friends. "We always met with colleagues at the hospital, which was our meeting point, because there you have a toilet and coffee. Then you build a bond with each other. One of those colleagues was also behind the bar, where I would then go to hang out at the bar on Saturdays. And that's how you develop your network. You have to do something, you can sit at home all day, but then you won't meet anyone." Bert also found love again through his work. "She is a 'colleague' from the cab and happened to always come to the same school. When the school year ended, she gave me her business card. 'See what you do with it,' she said. 'Burn it. Keep it.' But I called her. I felt like going for a drive and asked her along. That Friday we went. After a while of fun, sparks came. She's a real Gouda. She lives ten minutes from here."
Life
Nearly one year they are together and let themselves be guided mainly by spontaneity. So they have already been to Trier and Vianden, and most recently they were in Katwijk at 2:30 in the morning to see the northern lights. "We only saw nothing, well, as long as you're having fun. When she has hot flashes, we also go driving around, nice and open the roof, then it doesn't bother her. People always say 'you only live once', but that's not true. You live every day and you only die once. Especially since my heart was completely broken open, I think so. Hence the tattoo of an open zipper with a real heart behind it over the scar." From his girlfriend, Bert received a giant photo card for Valentine's Day and a lavish photo book for his birthday. These testify to something very beautiful. "We have it good."
Bert was economically homeless, but thankfully is well again
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