Willem is furious and fights for urgency Hoornse mother: “Something has to be done”

Bakker – who mainly works for the elderly with his foundation – is emotional when it comes to this issue. It touches him personally. “I feel what this young mother is going through. I myself experienced abuse and abuse in my youth. They didn’t believe me until I was fifteen. I had to arrange everything myself. I know how hard that is. And you take that whole life. Until the last gasp. This, with such a young mother, should never have happened.”

Domestic violence

What is going on? Charlotte* – mother of three young children – broke off her relationship in 2019 when she became a victim of domestic violence. She returns to Hoorn and leads a wandering existence there until recently. From bank to bank, being taken care of by the Salvation Army. She also sleeps in a tent for several months, along the A7. Mentally broken, she is. Depressed. Broken. She is now resting with her uncle and aunt.

Partly because Charlotte has no permanent residence, the children live with him. For years. A decent arrangement will not get off the ground. Contact with her children consists of one phone call a week, on Sunday. Unpalatable grief for a mother who never sees her children.

There is little or no view of a house, despite the fact that it has been registered for 8 years. Via via Willem Bakker hears about this harrowing matter. He decides to commit himself and does so with full dedication. He contacts the relevant authorities and gets his teeth into the file. Last Tuesday he also addressed the Hoornse council. But it doesn’t stop there.

Urgency statement

Because if Intermaris doesn’t respond quickly enough to an e-mail, he will stand at the door. With banner. “Something has to be done. Alderman Marjon van der Ven can issue an urgency statement to Intermaris. On that basis, the mother can get a house faster. If that happens, she can receive her children again and she can finally look to the future again. Every day for this to take longer makes the scratch deeper. This has gone on for far too long.”

Willem’s action is short-lived on Thursday. Soon Intermaris employees come outside and a conversation follows inside.

Municipality on

In a response, Intermaris indicates that it cannot do much for Charlotte at the moment. “We have not received a declaration of urgency for this lady from the municipality. That means that we cannot assign a home to her with priority at the moment,” says spokesperson Edy Klaassen.

“As soon as we have a declaration of urgency, we immediately get to work to find a suitable home. Unfortunately, in the current tight housing market, this does not guarantee that a home will be available immediately. It is up to the municipality of Hoorn to make a decision here.”

The municipality of Hoorn was not yet able to respond.