Hello all
I spoke with Steven Saturday 17 September on the phone. He sounded in good spirits and shared with me his living arrangements. He’s living in an unused office block, which has been converted into living accommodation for the homeless. It became empty during the pandemic. There are 130 men living in this office block with shared bathroom and kitchen facilities. He is content because he has his own room and for the first week after he arrived there he just slept for days. He also assisted another man, his name is Wim, who also lived in the previous dreadful accommodation where they couldn’t get any rest at all as they were sharing sleeping accommodation with other men with more complex issues like alcoholism and drug addiction. Wim is of course very grateful for Steven’s support in also managing to get him moved to this new office block.
Steven is receiving counselling regularly to help him with his mental health and help him resolve his life’s journey and reflect on how he got to where he is today. He sounds very positive about it and he’s realising many things about his youth and his relationships with his family. He knows he can’t change what’s happened and only live in the moment, although we all know that's not always that easy. He admits he suffers with loneliness, as most of his children are not speaking to him right now. His youngest son has met with him a couple of times, so hopefully they will build back a relationship of sorts. It's a complex back story and one I don't know that much about.
He is attending meetings with the local council to be a voice for the homeless and is also investigating the creation of a charity or foundation to help the homeless better in the area of Amersfoort.
His name is on the list for community housing but there is no panic for this, as he has been told that the office building project where he lives now is guaranteed for 5 years.
I told Steven that we did a small fundraiser for him and asked him how he would like to make use of the funds. Because he’s doing this work with the council and planning the charity, he is having to be quite busy on his computer, which is not very suitable, it's old and slow. Therefore he would like to use the funds to purchase a refurbished PC.
Today he sent me the link for the model he would like and as it happens it matches exactly the money we raised together. I have transferred the money to him - I rounded it to £300 (333 Euros) today using Western Union, so I am looking forward to hearing that he has managed to get that PC for his needs. He's very very grateful to everyone for the support you have given him. He sent me this message:
Dutch:
Ik ben echt heel dankbaar en het is voor mij een stimulans om me maximaal in te zetten voor de daklozen en de bewoners hier. Ik ben officieel nu ook voorzitter van de bewonerscommissie om het leven van alle nationaliteiten aangenaam te maken. Dus veel werk straks op mijn nieuwe laptop. Ik hou je op de hoogte.
English:
I am really very grateful and it is an incentive for me to do my best for the homeless and the residents here. I am now also officially chairman of the residents' committee to make life better for all nationalities. So a lot of work later on my new laptop. I'll keep you informed.
I felt it was a worthwhile use of the funds and will help him to get his life back on track together with a renewed purpose. He has promised to send me a photo of him with the new PC, which I can share with you all.
Thank you very much again for your support in helping Steven get back on his feet. I'm more hopeful for him then I was a few months ago when things looked quite serious.
Best, Michael ツ