W13 wants nine new transfer houses to fight poverty among young people

Two of the eleven ‘poverty antennas’ are already there: one in Menen and one in Kortrijk. They are called Overkophuizen. Young people who are struggling mentally, but also young people with financial problems can go here.

material emergency

“We notice that young people who come here also have material needs. They do not earn enough, have too few resources… They actually have a hard time surviving financially, and we can do a lot about that with the local authorities”, says Philippe De Coene, Kortrijk’s alderman for Poverty Reduction.

In October, Ethias called on the Belgian PCSWs to propose projects that combat poverty among young people. Out of more than 102 projects, W13 was crowned the winner. With the prize of 50,000 euros, they want to expand the initiative to nine other municipalities, namely in Anzegem, Avelgem, Deerlijk, Harelbeke, Kuurne, Wervik, Wevelgem, Wielsbeke and Zwevegem. “The intention is to work in the same way and also to do useful work in those other municipalities to try to fight poverty among young people.”