The municipality of Rotterdam wants to prevent corona infections in a vulnerable group with the ‘Housing for a hundred homeless people’ campaign. ‘It is not possible for us to accommodate the homeless in the existing shelter,’ says Rotterdam alderman Sven de Langen (public health, care, the elderly and sports). ‘There are bunk beds in the dormitories and the meter and a half cannot be kept. That is why we rented a ship and a hotel in the spring to temporarily spread the homeless. We can now say goodbye to those extra locations. That saves a lot of money for the taxpayer. ‘
In addition, the councilor aims to improve the living situation of homeless people. ‘We offer a hundred people an outflow opportunity, which will reduce the number of homeless people in the municipality. As a result, we can convert those dormitories into bedrooms, with much more peace and space. We hope that the group that stays in the reception centers will be able to leave earlier. ‘
It saves money for the taxpayer, you say. This plan is even paid for by the State.
‘We have received 19 million euros from the government to tackle homelessness for two years. We use that to finance part of this major operation. In addition, due to the corona virus, we had to pay for those extra locations anyway. We received compensation for this from the government, but this operation means that we do not have to use it for as long. That is ultimately financially beneficial for everyone. ‘
350 homeless people use the shelters. How do you determine which hundred are entitled to such a home?
‘All people in the shelter receive guidance. For this operation, the counselors assessed which group can actually leave with a residential care contract. 75 people were considered able to live reasonably independently in social housing, and thirty were able to move to a transfer location. That is an intermediate facility where people can live themselves, but there is a little more guidance. ‘
This proposal explicitly concerns the 350 homeless people in the shelters. The VPRO program Argos reported in September that there are probably more than 1,300 homeless people living in Rotterdam. For example, what does the municipality do for Eastern European labor migrants who have lost their jobs, to name just a group?
‘Argos has looked at young people who do not have their own roof over their heads, but often sleep with others. We call this ‘sofa sleepers’. At our youth centers there is an outflow after three months. We thus comply with the standard, the approach to homelessness of young people of State Secretary Blokhuis. But that is about a different target group than those that are supported with this operation.
‘As for the labor migrants, that is a group that is often not entitled to support from the municipality. We work with a return team to prevent these people from living on the street in Rotterdam. ‘
Meanwhile, the life they lead on the street is not pretty.
‘But we have no provisions for them. That is laid down by law. When migrant workers’ contracts expire and they have no new job prospects, their future lies in the country of origin. Our return team assists with this. ‘
Where is this operation going? Do homeless people no longer count as homeless when they have a home?
That’s the idea. If people get the keys to their homes, they are officially no longer homeless. That is why we are so proud of this operation. We are lifting a third of the people in the size centers out of homelessness. Those people can really get on with their lives. That is beautiful.’
Not afraid of relapses?
‘We are 100 percent sure that some people will relapse. The trick is to keep that number as low as possible. You have to keep an eye on this group. These people will still receive visits from an outpatient support worker once or twice a week. He checks whether the benefits are still being transferred, the health insurance has been paid, how someone is mentally doing… Then, we have experienced, in most cases it really works to keep someone out of the gutter.
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