The number of homeless people in Brabant is increasing. At the beginning of last year there were around 33,000 people homeless in the Netherlands. The Roland Eindhoven also slept on the street. He was addicted and roamed around. Now he gets bicycles and he has a routine again. He works in the workshop of Twan van Buul from Eindhoven where every week about ten men not only cycle, but also repair their own lives. “I have become much quieter”
Roland was addicted to cocaine and used more and more. He lost his home and ended up on the street. “I withdrew completely and was only busy with drugs. I always slept outside, weather or no weather.”
Through assistance, he came into contact with experience that stands, a foundation that is committed to homeless people. He now works there as a bicycle repairman.
“I had no experience with tinkering with cycling. I started with simple chores, not too technical. I soon started to like it. I have to be on time every day and there are clear rules. You can’t use this, you have your own tools that you are responsible for. If I throw something down here, I have to clean it up here. he says.
Bone cancer and other setbacks
The bicycle workshop is run by the Eindhoven Twan van Buul. He always had his own bicycle shop until he got bone cancer. “I went through a deep valley. I was in a lot of pain and also financial worries. In the end I sold my business and I started with experience that state,” he says.
He guides around ten men who are or have been homeless every week.
“I have time to listen during odd jobs. Conversations get going so much easier. We start here every day at zero. Has a heavy night behind him, then I don’t sit on the skin right away. You have to make a plan. And that of course also applies to their own life. They have to learn how they get it again. Because of my illness I have to make something like it.
Appie from Veldhoven is also doing the bikes. He has been homeless since October and is now staying in a residential hotel. “I was hit by a divorce and drug use. I slept on the couch with friends. I had a community service. My life did not go smoothly and I was very hot. Now it is going better.”
He likes to polish cycling and also hopes to get his own home.
More than a bicycle
The men recover around 400 bicycles every year. They are passed on to Stichting Leergeld and gives them away to families with financial worries.
“A child who comes to pick up a new bike here does not know who made it. He just sees his new bike and is happy. I see my men grow when the bikes are picked up, every person wants to be appreciated regardless of your problems,” says Twan van Buul.
Nico is also one of the regular workers. He has been from Eindhoven, has been homeless since he was twelve and has lived on the street seventeen years. He was also in prison. Now he can be found at the workplace five days a week. He mainly takes care of the collection and bringing of the bikes. “I learned to look at myself here. I know I can get very angry very quickly. I learned to tackle it differently,” he says.
Twan says: “I am the long breath. Some men who come here sleep outside every night. But they do not use the eight hours they are here and build them on a better life.”
