The center of Assen has gained a cozy living room. This morning, the Salvation Army opened a new walk-in facility on the Brink, just around the corner from the Drents Museum. It must become the living room for people who cannot fully participate in society on their own.
According to regional officer Ingeborg Keijzer of the Salvation Army, the location is primarily intended as a facility for people with psychological problems or an intellectual disability. “It is a GGZ walk-in, where we try to empower people. We want to give them safety, security and ensure that they regain confidence in society and in themselves.”
Once that first step has been taken, we will look further. “When we see what opportunities people have, we want to encourage that,” says Keijzer. “We then want to contact other partners in the city, where they may be able to further develop their talents.” This concerns neighbors in the immediate vicinity, entrepreneurs in the center, cultural organizations and other welfare institutions.
And everyone is welcome at the walk-in, to just walk in for a cup of coffee, “the first one is free”, or for a chat, against loneliness. Because the Salvation Army wants to keep the threshold as low as possible. For example, there is also a lunch café from Wednesday to Friday, where people with a small budget are explicitly taken into account.
Keijzer hopes there will be one community arises. “And for people who are struggling with problems, and who are trying to put their lives back in order step by step, this place must become a beacon of hope. And that can be done in this living room with the help of other visitors who have strong shoulders, those people can be of support with less strong shoulders,” explains Keijzer. “For example, while enjoying a cup of coffee, spontaneous agreements can be made here to go for a walk together. This creates a nice new network, so that people have a safety net if they need it,” says Keijzer.
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