A few weeks ago (in June) I received messages from my family in England that our oldest brother, Steven who lives in The Netherlands, had become homeless. We didn't know whether it was true or not, my own brother homeless?! I volunteered with Crisis in the UK for several years and my instinct from having done some support work and learning about the homeless, is that he needed to get professional help. He was asking us for money, the messages coming through were that he was sleeping in his car with his dog.
Seriously can this really be true in a rich Western nation like The Netherlands? Surely they look after their citizens, they wouldn't allow someone to be sleeping rough in their car at his age? I know the UK is awful at looking after the homeless, but The Netherlands? Surely they must be much better, it turns out not. They have a huge homelessness issue there too.
Anyway, I was persistent in my suggestion that he should seek a homeless shelter and get professional help. Homelessness is a very complicated and involved scenario. It was a shock to us of course and although we were aware that his marriage had broken up, he definitely had not kept us posted on the events that then followed. We still really don't know how it has all come about.
He turned 70 on the 24th June 2022 which means he must receive a state pension, wouldn't that be enough to pay some rent? Clearly not.
Steven hasn't always been honest with the truth, so there's always been a doubt in the back of my mind whether this was one of his stories or he was actually telling us the truth.
It wasn't until he shared an article from a Dutch online newspaper that I realised it was in fact very true. My heart sank, I had doubted him and it was true after all.
What can I do?
My Dutch is rubbish. I have lived in the UK for over 45 years, so English is really my first language. This is an issue for me were I to liaise with the relevant authorities and support organisations in The Netherlands, I know they all speak English, but I wouldn't even know who to speak to.
I decided to share the article with some old Dutch friends, who I'm sometimes still in contact with. Of course they were all shocked with the news and were offering to assist. I wasn't sharing it to get pity for Steven, I will always stay in the belief that he needed professional help with his ordeal and what assistance do you actually ask for. It is Steven that needs the assistance.
In sharing the article one of those friends also spotted the same article shared here on LinkedIn too. Let me share a link to it below. It's all in Dutch, but thankfully there's a translate option inside LinkedIn. I have also shared the original article in full translated into English with the help of Google Translate.
I had noticed some names in the news article and decided to copy them in on the post and to my surprise one of those responded very positively.
She said:
"Dear Michael, I will continue to work for your brother and all the homeless. Steven will soon be given a place. This month."
I'm of course super happy about this and it confirmed my initial gut-instinct that he needed to find professional support, which I really do hope he will be receiving, not just in terms of a physical place to live, but also any emotional and mental support that he will need. Furthermore he confirmed that he is appearing to be getting forgetful, so he needs some tests to check for any signs of Dementia, making it an even more complicated case.
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Here follows the full news article, that started Steven's journey hopefully back to some normality very soon.
Author: Johan Hardeman 15-07-22
What it's like to suddenly become homeless as a 70-year-old: 'It is sometimes scary and threatening'.
Image: Homeless Steven de Groot (70) makes a cry from the heart: give the elderly homeless a quiet shelter. © Cees Wouda
Becoming homeless in old age. This nightmare happened to Steven de Groot (70) from Amersfoort, who lost his house due to an accumulation of problems and ended up on the street. He makes a heartfelt cry for better shelter for himself and other elderly homeless people. “Sleeping two hours a night, fearful of conflict and a lot of stress. I'm not taking this.”
Growing old carefree? That is not for everyone. The 70-year-old Steven de Groot lost his rental apartment in Amersfoort at the beginning of this year after an accumulation of financial problems. After rent arrears continued to mount, he was eventually evicted from his home. He is not the only elderly homeless person in the day and night shelter on the Smallepad in Amersfoort, he says. “There are two men in their 60s. I am 70 myself and we have another man over 75, with whom I spend a lot of time.”
“In the end I collapsed from exhaustion and was taken to the hospital.” ~ Steven de Groot
The first three weeks he lived in his car. Along with his puppy. “Relief workers told me to go to the shelter. But that didn't work with my dog and I thought the threshold was high. So I started roaming everywhere. I hardly slept and ate far too little. In the end I collapsed from exhaustion and was taken to the hospital. After that I got rid of the dog anyway and I went to the homeless shelter. I came in with my suitcase and my clothes and I thought: where have I ended up?”
Fearful and threatening
His time in the homeless shelter is very difficult for Steven. He's been there for two months now. At the location on the Smallepad, different target groups stay together. People with a drinking or drug problem or psychological complaints, but also economically homeless.
Image: The homeless shelter on the Smallepad in Amersfoort © Cees Wouda
These are people like Steven, who have led 'a normal life' for years, but have ended up on the street due to an accumulation of reasons such as financial problems, overstrained housing market, divorce and bad luck.
It's survival, the 70-year-old outlines. “It is sometimes scary and threatening. There are already conflicts over small things, because people have a lot of stress and you are therefore together with people with psychological problems or addiction. A kind of drain. There are also all kinds of rules, which make it difficult to find your way around. For example, you can't decide to take an afternoon nap at any time. While at my age you sometimes need that.”
Snoring
The number of homeless people in Amersfoort has increased in recent years, as a result of which there are regularly too few places to sleep. In the corona time, the number of people per room has been reduced, so that homeless people have more space. However, this is not enough, says Steven. “I once slept on a mattress in an office with my broken hip. That doesn't actually work. I only sleep two or three hours a night now. I'm exhausted. There is always someone snoring or coughing.”
“In the hotel I completely relaxed mentally. Everything was clean and quiet” ~ Steven de Groot
Homeless organisation Kwintes recently arranged that Steven could sleep in a hotel for a short time to recover. That was great, he says. "I completely relaxed there mentally. Everything was clean and quiet. I could take a nice shower and set the heat knob as hard or soft as I wanted. “ But when Steven had to go back to the shelter, things went wrong again. "I didn't want to and I got pressure on my chest again. I am a heart patient. I had to go to the hospital. The way things are going now is disastrous for my health. It can no longer be like this.”
Cry from the heart
The 70-year-old homeless person has a cry from the heart for politics and Kwintes to take care of the elderly homeless in a hotel in the short term. In fact, he believes that different target groups such as addicts, people with psychological problems and economically homeless should be cared for separately. “People like me only want one thing: to move out to their own home as quickly as possible, if necessary with guidance. It makes no sense to put us in the same place as people with very different problems.” PvdA councilor Rachida Issaoui has spoken with Steven several times and also visited Kwintes. She wants to argue in the Amersfoort city council for the separate care of elderly and young people without psychological complaints or addictions. “The current situation really needs to change.” A more human form of shelter and his own little house as soon as possible: that's what Steven dreams of. “Just be my own boss again and pick up my life. Isn't that too much to ask when you're 70?”
Homelessness very hard for older people: 'It takes a heavy toll on your health.’
Homeless 65+? There are no reliable figures about this target group, but they are certainly there, says Esme Wiegman of trade association Valente. She herself knows the example of a man who lived with his very elderly mother until she died. Then he ended up on the street.
The target group is diverse, she outlines. Sometimes the elderly end up on the street for economic reasons, sometimes they have been struggling with addiction or psychological complaints for years. “These people don't really belong in a homeless shelter, but have to live in a (supervised) home as soon as possible. This also applies to other target groups. Being homeless takes a toll on your health.” The cabinet recently came up with a new approach, which means that homeless people must move on to a home more quickly.
In conversation with Steven
Care manager Harro Koeleman van Kwintes will talk to Steven (70) on Monday. A hotel or a private room (as the homeless in the Amergaard do get) for the elderly homeless? “I will definitely look into that. Actually, I think that every homeless person should have their own room, when you are 70 all the way. He is pleased that money has been made available in the new coalition agreement for a new homeless shelter with single rooms.
Koeleman recognises the signs that the shelter is very full. “It has never been this busy and we have had more incidents lately. Unfortunately, hotels are overcrowded, making moving difficult. The great thing is: our employees pull mattresses from everywhere so that homeless people don't have to sleep outside. However, it must be checked that someone like Steven can just lie on the bed.”
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Please share this article when you are able to, the issue of homelessness is huge the world over, the more all of us can be made aware that this is an ongoing problem that doesn't only happen at Christmas, it is an all-year round and growing issue. I can only fear what might be happen as a result of the current cost of living crisis that all European and UK nations are experiencing.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and for sharing it.
I am fundraising £5000 towards Steven's recovery journey. You can donate the cost of a coffee through this site, which is personally linked to me. https://www.buymeacoffee.com/stayingaliveuk All money raised will exclusively be used for Steven's recovery journey and I promise to keep you posted on his progress.
Michael ~ bio.link/stayingaliveuk
Update 02 August, 2022
City Councillor, Rachida Issaoui, in Amersfoort shared an update on Facebook.
"Yesterday I spoke to homeless Steven de Groot at the Eemplein . I wanted to hear how he is doing before my holiday. Since the last time I spoke with him (physically), a lot has happened, media attention has brought everything into a rush.
During my conversation with the mayor, I also really advocated that the elderly homeless get a place on the Plotterweg. Fortunately that will also really happen. Steven has also had a lot of conversations with Kwintes, the mayor himself and he is now in the client council. This council has been stopped for a year.
We hear Steven well, because at our earlier conversations he said: "I don't care which council I'm in, but the situation at the Smallepad has to be different".
Monday August 8 Steven is moving to the Plotterweg, I'm happy about this, but we're not there yet. I'll follow how things are going here and will also visit Steven . after the holidays To his room with shared kitchen and shower.
After my holiday I'm rolling my sleeves again, because the situation on the Smallepad can be much better, for the homeless and the professionals.
Steven de Groot also thinks so and says: "We have to be good for all those people there".
To be continued...