From nothing to something (3): You better be in a prison

It is still early when I walk into Waterland Hospital. The lady at the reception desk nods with recognition and understanding. By now some people in the hospital may think I work there, but the lady at the front desk knows my situation. The hospital is about the only place you can still be dry and warm as a homeless person on Sunday early in the morning. The daycare is closed and the library is only open for a few hours in the afternoon.

Geert is already waiting for me. With a crossword puzzle in front of him, as I have come to expect from him. Our regulars' table at the hospital has been moved. For Christmas there are performances in the hospital hall for a few days in a row. There is also a grand piano in the hospital hall, I am still waiting for the day when - out of nowhere - as sometimes happens at Amsterdam CS, a talented player emerges and plays the stars from heaven. Until now, we have had to make do with a somewhat less talented player. But, we can't complain. We sit here warm and dry every day, and around 9:30 a.m. the volunteers drive by daily with the coffee truck, to provide us with a cup of coffee and ask how we are doing.

Every day Geert spends at least two hours on his bicycle. An hour to get here and an hour to bike back late at night to his sleeping place in a business building that he happens to still have the key to. There he sneaks in late at night, when everyone is gone, to sleep on the floor. He is no longer welcome in the night shelter because of his big mouth, and since then he has been ostracized from the region's social services.

Conspiracy thinking at the homeless shelter

'Just wait until the economy picks up, then I'll be back to my old self in no time,' Geert tells me - almost confidently. He is not a real Purmerender, but is a temporary resident here because his municipality is not one of the 43 municipalities in the Netherlands that has responsibility for social relief. Purmerend does. He says he worked all his life, day in and day out, until the crisis came. The construction industry went belly up. These days he fills his days doing newspaper puzzles - while mulling over daily life. He regularly speaks to me to spout his bile about the municipality and agencies, like a true conspiracy thinker he creates his vision of how everyone is against him.

There are also conspiracy-like rumors about me in the homeless shelter. I am said to have been hired by the North Holland newspaper, and other newspaper, perhaps a TV program, to write about this. But it could also be the police, or an organization of the shelter itself. I have heard through the grapevine that I may become the new prime minister.

Taking everything with a few grains of salt, though, is something I learned quickly here. But I can understand their frustrations: for me, unlike my peers, many things went very smoothly. My registration in the municipality of Purmerend was taken care of in a few days, my assistance was in my account a day after approval and retroactively my health insurance was also fixed in no time. Why did things go so damn easy for me while people with similar problems take months or even years?

Homeless make money

The night shelter in Purmerend is nothing more than a roof over your head. Don't get me wrong: it is a roof over my head for which I am grateful every day, but in terms of guidance you don't have to expect anything from it. Anyone who thinks help is provided immediately is wrong. I have been here for a few weeks now, but won't have my first intake interview until the end of next month. Anyone who needs help must have not only patience but also the strength not to fall further into decay.

Pro-actively I could find some help at, for example, the Brijder foundation, they do help, even though I don't have an addiction. From the Purmerend Social Shelter I have so far only received a phone call that I was on the verge of not having a bed for a few nights, because there were more applications than beds, and that I had an appointment for an intake interview on January 28. Two months of relying on my own willpower and initiative. While I do still have that in me, I see plenty of people around me who could use a helping hand.

The regular shelter for a homeless person is expensive. If, after sometimes 10 months of waiting in Purmerend, you qualify for a small room where you can then spend a maximum of 8 months, you pay around 400 euros for it. You are not entitled to rent subsidy. A guy here who has a university degree told me that he would have 45 euros left over per month if he took a room. In fact, besides the rent, he has to pay off his debts and pay his insurance. So for him the emergency shelter is still the better solution, because it is only 150 euros per month. The only thing is: if you refuse the temporary room, you are no longer entitled to emergency shelter.

The Reception Center in Purmerend also receives subsidies, in addition to the money they receive from room rentals. In 2015, this was over 1.1 million euros from the municipality. The rental costs of the premises are low or zero, for example, the night shelter where I stay is a demolition property of the municipality and the foundation recently received over 90,000 above the normal subsidy for the renovation of the premises. Similarly, the Brijder recently received almost 175,000 euros extra to keep the daycare open a few extra hours a day for the coming year.

A lot of money goes into the business of homeless shelters. But it is not clear to me where that money goes.

Hospital

As I chat with the evicted fellow homeless person Geert at our hospital's log table, I think of another night shelter user lying in a hospital bed a few floors up. Earlier he had been turned away for not having insurance. Then - whatever he had - became so serious that he ended up in Intensive Care. Meanwhile, he's being helped, even though they still don't know what's wrong with him. But so it almost went really wrong because he didn't have insurance. Ever tried to get insurance if you don't have a permanent address or income?

As he continues with his newspaper puzzle, Geert continues, "You know Michel? In Holland it's better to be in jail than to be homeless. At least then you know for sure that you have a meal, a bed to sleep on and the right to medical care. Yes Michel, it's better to be in prison.'

And when I have had a hard day and am almost losing all courage, I would agree with him.