“We wholeheartedly support this”, says the municipality of Meppel about an idea for new care homes. That is enough to get a head start on the Living Without Cares concept (WZZ). The two initiators are now receiving a subsidy from the government to further shape the plans. The shovel must be in the ground within four years.
Geert van Wijhe and Hedzer van Houten are the initiators of the WZZ idea. They live in the Oosterboer district and have seen the composition of that district change significantly. The Oosterboer was built in the 1980s and 1990s. Many families lived there: an average of three people or more in a house. That has changed a lot. Now, on average, fewer than two people live in a house. “The children have now flown out. Many people from Meppel who came here in the 1990s now have an empty nest,” laughs Van Wijhe. “This is a time for them to live smaller.”
However, Meppel lacks a suitable place to go. “Only 30 care homes are available in the Oosterboer,” says Van Houten. New construction of a complex is therefore necessary. And that has to be in the center or in the Oosterboer. “There are facilities here. Meppel has a large new-build area called Nieuwveense Landen, but there will be no facilities there and is therefore not suitable for the elderly. They will soon have to be able to go to the supermarket with the rollator.”
They came up with the Living Without Cares (WZZ) concept. These are spacious apartments in which a lot of the elderly are taken care of. As a result, they should be less dependent on informal carers. “We think it’s a good idea, for example, that the WZZ house has a ‘caretaker 3.0’. He can help with groceries, but also with a question about the smartphone and internet connection. A swimming pool and a fitness room also seem like an addition. issues from the hands of the target group and they can then continue to live independently for a very long time.”
It is also visible that there are many empty nests in the Oosterboer district. Due to the shrinkage, a primary school building is empty. That seems like a suitable place for the duo. “If the municipality also supports this, it can go quickly,” says Van Wijhe. “The college now supports our initiative very much.”
The term ‘warm heart’ can mean a lot to the idea. Van Wijhe and Van Houten want to obtain a start-up subsidy from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO). The hard requirement for this subsidy is that there must be a view of a location. “But the municipality of Meppel does not want to make concrete statements about a location yet. They have indicated that they have a ‘warm heart’ for our project and that is also enough for the RVO to award the subsidy. .”
The duo is not unknown in the region: Van Houten (former director of housing cooperative Woonconcept) and Van Wijhe (former civil servant of Meppel, the provinces of Drenthe and Overijssel) know how things work. However, they emphasize that they do not do this (only) for themselves. “We now have a group of interested people around us of 25 people who would like to move. The group is not led under us, but by Joop Alssema. He is the former mayor of Staphorst.”
“We are therefore not going to put forward a concrete plan,” continues Van Houten. “Because then we would behave as a project developer and we don’t want that. This is a citizens’ initiative and the group of 25 people will determine what it should look like.”
“This must be achieved within four to five years,” says Van Wijhe. “Some of the interested people are now 70 years old. If it takes even longer, they won’t need it anymore. We have a lot of confidence in this.” Meppel can even serve as a starting point for a larger project. Van Houten: “There really is a vision behind this. We will soon be able to roll out this model throughout the Netherlands.”