“In the Coffeehouse, corporate volunteers are sometimes shocked”

The Coffee House on Haarlemmerstraat is a safe haven for homeless or undocumented visitors. The foundation is a social enterprise largely run by and for participants. Together with the necessary volunteers. They take care of clean clothing, coffee, lunch, and the cleaning and green teams keep the environment clean and colorful. Some days, groups of colleagues also come to volunteer for a day. “There is an intense mutual interest between the homeless and the volunteers,” says Roel Piera, the director of the Coffee House.
Employees of companies can viaBusiness Involved, a platform including the Volunteer Center Amsterdam, is looking for suitable volunteer work at many social organizations in Amsterdam. “At our Coffee House, corporate volunteers can, for example, help prepare lunch for about 30 homeless guests or assist the cleaning or gardening teams. For them, it is often an introduction to a completely different world. The world of people who have no roof over their heads and are uninsured. This is shocking for many volunteers.”

The rare outside world

“I sometimes compare our Coffee House to that small Gaulish village of Asterix and Obelix. The outside world is sometimes very strange to us, just like Asterix and Obelix talked about ‘strange guys, those Romans’. Here, too, it is the case that the cooperation and the economy indoors do work well. And outside, for them, it is very deficient or non-existent. Out of the thirty homeless people with us, about half do not have a roof over their heads, and the other half can (partially) arrange something through emergency shelters or friends, a boat, or something like that. Through us, there are nine sleeping places available elsewhere. Fortunately, when it freezes, people can make use of the shelter under the Winter Cold Arrangement of the municipality. No one should have to die on the street.” Roel gets emotional here. “Unfortunately, this has not been successful for everyone in the past ten years.”

From all corners of the world

“During the first financial crisis, many young people from Southern Europe came. Later, many people from North Africa and also from Eritrea arrived. Currently, many people from Central and Eastern Europe are coming. We do not receive subsidies for homeless shelters, but the municipality does pay us for street and green maintenance. I feel very proud when I think about all the green spaces in the city that are designed and maintained by us. Participants always receive a volunteer allowance, breakfast, coffee after two hours of work, and a good warm lunch after three hours of work. Between 9:00 and 13:00, it really feels like a community or a working group here that supports each other and takes pride in the work.”

We have achieved this together.

“People from companies often only have two days a year in which they are allowed to do volunteer work by their employer. These are all kinds of companies such as Booking, Liberty Global, JAM3, Phillips, etc. It is important to find well-defined tasks that benefit both them and us. When company volunteers help out on the street, they experience what our participants also experience. Other company volunteers cook lunch for thirty people at the same time. There is an intense mutual interest between the homeless and the volunteers. Social security in the Netherlands goes a long way, but there are always limits. The Coffee House as well as mosques and churches operate on that limit. The volunteers always approach their tasks with great motivation and dedication. The great thing about Business Involved is that you can make such good agreements about clearly defined tasks, dates, times, finances, goals, and efforts. There is a lot of appreciation for each other, and you always experience successes and victories. The feeling: we have achieved this together!”

It will always be fine

“Sometimes we get 15 to 20 corporate volunteers at once. Then we come up with a nice green project, for example. Like assembling and planting thirty steel planters together. The involvement of the homeless is constant. The occasional volunteers are larger in number, but it’s quite a challenge to manage all those ad hoc tasks. But at the Koffiehuis, it always works out. Everything works out every day,” Roel smiles contentedly.

Interested too?

On the website of theCoffeehousefind more about this special project.
If you want to make an impact with your company,Look here.And of course, you can also take a look atour office hours and the job board, for many more other fun volunteer tasks.Photos:Jackie Mulder
Interview: Thecla Groot Koerkamp