Have an income, but no roof over your head. Because you can’t afford it and suddenly need shelter, unemployment, illness or a divorce. The number of economically homeless people is increasing.
In the Netherlands, there were more than 500,000 Dutch people without an address in 2019. Since that time, the number of homeless or economically homeless people turning to homeless organizations has increased. Also in Drenthe.
“In Drenthe, we as the Salvation Army have less to do with economically homeless people than elsewhere in the country,” says Salvation Army spokesman Evalyne van Lokhorst. “We see that trend more often, but people who fall under that category also report to us.”
self-reliant
Municipalities consider economically homeless people to be self-reliant because of their income and the lack of addiction and psychiatry, which means that they are not allowed to use homeless facilities. But if they are homeless, they are temporarily less self-reliant.
“When people from this group are homeless and there are no other shelter options, they turn to the Salvation Army. We then take them in,” says Van Lokhorst.
New start
If a home is found, then they can quickly live independently again. “In general, this group stays a little shorter in Social Shelter and can often leave without guidance,” said the spokesman for the Salvation Army. “That has to do with self-reliance, but also with the fact that this is sometimes the first time that people have stayed in Social Shelter. The way back to society is then a little easier to find.”