EINDHOVEN - Samen voor Eindhoven held the ‘Give a coat and warm a heart’ campaign for the eighth time. With success: more than 2,500 winter coats were handed in at the seven collection points in recent weeks. This year a category was added, sleeping bags.
One of the collection points was the organisation Maatje040, part of the Vrijwillige Hulpdienst Eindhoven (VHE). That offers temporary help and support for anyone who needs it. The Maatjes (volunteers) can help with chores or shopping.
Minke Ypma is one of the coordinators at Maatje 040. Ypma: „We have been acting as a collection point for this campaign for several years. It is a great initiative that we are happy to participate in. If in this way we can help more people who might not be able to pay for a coat, our goal will have been achieved. Warmth for everyone who needs it.”
The collected sleeping bags are given a special function. The Sheltersuit Foundation turns the sleeping bags into sheltersuits, which are wind- and waterproof jackets with an optional sleeping bag attachment for instant protection. The sheltersuits are distributed to people sleeping outside, whether forced or not, as well as to refugees and victims of disasters and conflicts.
The organiser of the campaign is Together for Eindhoven. This is a foundation that connects companies and social organisations in the Brainport region. Volunteers from 30 of their affiliated companies and organisations sorted the coats and then distributed them to the 18 civil society organisations that had submitted applications for coats.
One such organisation is Springplank040. Jelle van Kruijssen is relationship manager at Springplank040. He explains: „We are responsible for social care in Eindhoven. We applied for two hundred coats for our clients. And we got them all. With a warm coat, clients can choose to stay outside anyway.”
Of course, Van Kruijssen would prefer them to come in at the shelter. ‘’But you can't force them. Do you know our ”Stop the Silence' campaign? That is a campaign to promote understanding of homelessness. Homeless people are easily condemned. People often only see the 5 per cent who are a nuisance, but the other 95 per cent is hidden poverty, you don't hear about them. This group is also often ashamed, but anyone can end up in a situation where problem after problem piles up. Then we are there to help them get back on top and sometimes that can be done with something as simple as a warm coat."
