Velserpoort | atelierspruitenburg

Velserpoort

When young I once had the idea I could have a nomadic life but never could’ve imagined I could one day become homeless and living from luggage from place to place. Especially in the Netherlands that was ones renown for their social housing system it shows how deep we sank. It means iving in the 2020’s after more than a decade of Neo-liberalism you can expect anything, because it is a crisis everyday.

It meant for me that despite I signed up and paying a fee to be on the waiting list, I never would get some place I could call home. It means to get help I needed to do a trajectory within homeless shelter in the municipality of Haarlem. It meant that in the first weeks I was housed in the shelter at the Wilhelminastraat, where excessive drinking and drugs abuse is daily business. Luckily they saw I was a diamond in the rough, and soon II was invited to help in the kitchen which was a closed area and helped me relax a little.

Luckily I got within three weeks a message that I was expected at the location Velserpoort. A more quiet area and also a being said zero policy towards alcohol and other drugs.

As the shelter called Velserpoort, houses almost fifty persons with different backgrounds and personal life stories, it means it can be a stressful place. To me the time in there meant I want to keep investing in myself and keep my creative mind going.

On this page you're able to see that even I wasn't due to the situation not actively working in my educated workfield, I still developed myself. And for what I get back of my surrounding I help the people around me to grow with me. Due to inspiring them with creative possibilities despite the situation you'll find yourself into.

Cooking in the kitchen

Working in the kitchen at both shelters I gave myself the opportunitty to keep developing myself and being in a safe space as well. And with some creativity involved, I eventually found myself working for 5 days a week in the kitchen; Two days at the Wilhelminastraat and three days within Velserpoort. Working with on both locations with a chef tthat were more experienced in the workfield, l learned a lot in a short time.

So even as I lived in Velserpoort I still came to Wilhelminatraat to keep developping my skillset and soon I found myself in charge of the kitchen in Velserpoort. When the organization also decided to cut costs and didn't want me to get paid all rhe hours I made for them I decided to focus more on the kitchen and location.

Having more time to focus myself on other tasks, we decided that for the weekend in Velserpoort we would make the menu's together as this would help with budget and time. As we were able to carry-over ingredients or having the ability to prepare a day before, they wanted me to guide and overview the processes. Although being hesitant of it I soon found myself in the middle of a very supportive team.

But when people of the team were moving outwards due to their trajectory I found myself lonely in the kitchen again. Luckily I also find Abdulle always helping me out. And eventually new people came into the kitchen as well. Funny enough is that even if I didn't have theat much experience I was able to help them wuite well with the basics. So after a short time I got a crew of three to four cooks again to help me out making tha food I thought up upfront. And just let them do the bigger part of the work while I kept the overview and prepared the next step for them.

As they helped me to make the food I thought out upfront, and I helped them through the process of it, it felt comfortable as I always felt in control without any stress. Thus when I got my own appartment that needed a lot of work and as it is a social activity, I kept being the chef for longer than a year. But by getting the experience of the kitchen I certainly know it silently influenced me on how I designed my interior. And although many people ask me why I wouldn't want to make a career of cooking, it's just plain and simple. Already so many hobbies became my work that I want to sepearate my professional life and private more.

The 'cooking-carreer' shows for me my persistence in developing my skills despite the situation I find myself into. But without seperating private and professionality I know it one day would become a pitfall.

Velserpoort has a semi-professional kitchen in which every day food gets prepared freshly for around 40 people.	Although the kitchen is ran by volunteers, the hygiene is hijgh on the priority list. Thus we heve a great dishwasher Abdulle, he always smiles and calls himself the 'Afwas-Engineer'.	The daily kitchencrew exists most of the time of about three persons. One of them does the ordering, communication of the menu, and is called the chef, To me most of the time it is just facilitating the team and let them de the produce while I prepare the next step.
One of the volunteers was Mr. Hoed, Despite being in an episode of depression, Mr Hoed liked to work in the kitchen despite not having any experience.	The variety of food we make is quite broad. Although we try to do as much starting from scratch, sometimes we'd need to make shortcuts because of he limited time of a kitchenservice.	When I make the menu's I always look at the season. Through working this way we get the best food within the daily budget.
The cultural variety at Velserpoort being quite broad, we know we can't cook for everyone exclusively. It also means we that we sometimes make Dutch Classics. And when there is complaining I always go in conversation to understand if it quality or taste.	Having limited budget makes that nine out of the ten days they eat chicken like these yakitori-style. But when it is possible we certainly do like to vary. Like these shrimps were on sale and we were able ot make a nice gumbo with some rice and as salad loaded fries.	As one the days I cook is the saturday, I always try to look at comfort food. Like for instance lahmacun in here better known as Turkish Pizza with a 'Kumpir' on the side.
	On exception we;re allowed to make a desert. As cheesecake is favorite I most of the time make one that is related to season we cook in. As Mr Hoed was due to healthproblems a vegan I also made together with him a vegan chocolate pie.

Theme- & ChristmasCooking

Although there aren’t many real Christians in the ‘social care-shelter’, (in fact we needed to cook halal everyday) at Christmas the budget got topped up. And however there is nothing able to replace a cosy environment with friends and family you love, this at least allows to make a luxurious diner and experiment a bit in the research and development area of cooking.

With a Christmas tree in the center of the building, we already took the initiative of making to decorate it with meringue-wreaths for instance. Also in the real Christmas dinner we wanted to make something that would people remember, as they weren’t able to celebrate it with family. And especially as the desserts always are popular due to their sweetness the bar was set high for this occasion.

As pastry being more about precision compared to cooking, it was a task that I mostly performed. But as there now was an extra budget and I wanted it to be a group effort we prepared a step by step planning of things we were able to prepare beforehand. For instance we now got the chance to get some very high quality of chocolate which we tempered. Putting it on a tray and marmer it and spread an exciting nut-mix over it gave each desert a unique aesthetic. As we always cooked within the seasons we made a tangerine parfait and combined this with a fresh tasting yoghurt ice-cream. Eventually placing all of this on a crëme brûlée, topped with caramel and a syrup that was leftover of the stewed pears we used in the head course.

Christmas is coming at Velserpoort, this means there will be big tree in the hallway. But once seen it, it looked a bit empty. Thus we offered to make some merinque-wreaths and after a few hours of extra work the tree looked like Christmas was really happening.	As we had some leftover we decided to pack them up and give them to some of the people of who we believed they deserved such a small present.	After peeling fourteen kilogram of GIeser-Wildeman pears, we stewed them in water with cassis syrup and a bit of color powder to give it this golden orange color. Eventually it came on a plate with a beutiful filled chicken leg, mashed potatoe and soms vegetable.
As we had extra budget for the meal we decided to make something really special of the desert. As Dax wanted to do a special homemade chocolat, I made some desert with it that connected with the rest of the meal. The ocmbination of the crème brullee, yoghurt icecream and tangerine parfait worked really well.	After Christmas was over, the supermarket came up with a collecting stickerbook for children. As it was a cookbook we eventually got it complete and wanted to celebrate this with a special menu...	We decided to be selective about what we chose as the budget could've become else a dealbreaker.
Although upfront people complained that they weren't little children and that we weren't respecting the food, it eventually became quite a succes as they were able to pick everything they wanted.

Project Velserpoolt

Being secretary of the client committee at Velserpoort and Wilhelmina straat we noted regularly troubled behaviour. After first talking about it with the location manager we hoped it was a temporary trend. But slowly the trend became bigger and often people complaint about the restlessness of other cliënts. It came to a point we had the conversation ourselves and asked what was able to help them. And many answers pointed into the direction of not having enough recreation opportunities and tension builds up as with recreation also comes relaxation. And looking at how this developed we saw a relation to the state of the pooltable that was in the main hall. The reason to put it in the agenda.

At the meeting the location manager would take a look if there is still some money leftover of the budget to replace the table. In hindsight the organisation was already halfway leaving so they just gave us the feeling of looking into it but probably already knew the organisation wouldn’t invest in it anymore…But as a creative pragmatic thinker you don’t always take a direct ‘no’ for an answer. So to the question if they were willing to coöperate if we would send requests to partners to invest in this for Velserpoort they were open to look into it.All of this eventually led to making a document in which I interviewed three different parties of the location; the chairman of the cliént committeel; Serge, a client who always worked voluntarily and addressed the restlessness to us; Abdulle, and a supporter for the cause of the people who worked in a supporting role directly with the clients; Kasim. And all of them showed a vital essence, without a functioning pool table the stay a Velserpoort felt twice as long, and there was less connection between

clients as the pool table alway brought people of different cultures and backgrounds together.

With the document we hoped to setup a successfull crowd fund, but also got some funding of other parties lthat supports the less fortunate people. It was a reason we also reached out to street-pastor Joop Bosm who has some connection in the whole chain of supporting parties. He immediately got enthusiastic and asked me to give him some time but also look into how much was needed and be creative with that part as well. As Marktplaats, Dutch variant on eBay, is one of my favourite websites I would keep looking for a reasonable priced pool panel that would withstand the test of time. And while some people made jokes about me pursuing this goal, I knew we had an opportunity to settle this ones and for all.

In the end it took us just two-and-a-half months from start to finish to get it all done. As Joop is a pastor and quite a lot of the support for homeless people comes via Christianity, he soon raised two times a substantial donation. Also via crowd funding another 300 euro was raised among contacts of people staying or working in Velserpoort. In the meantime we already found a pool table of the renowned brand Buffalo. Despite some visual damage it was in a good condition and surely would stand the test of time. So after hiring a van we were able to transport it and install the new pool table in the center of the hall. Eventually we even had some money leftover which we invested in some maintenance goods, so multiple generations of people staying at Velserpoort would be able to play a proper game of pool.


The old situation in the hallway of Velserpoort.	The old situation right at the entrance.	The old pooltable was the second table within a few years, reason to invest in something more sustainable.
		The base of the pooltable made from mainly hardwood shows it is made to last.
We first builded the side parts of the table onto it as with tension on the fabric and maybe a sharp edge it could rip.	Pre-fitting everything so we evade any problems	As the fabric was transported we it had some creases, after a night laying it over the table we ironed the last few ones out.
An overview of the build up of the table.	An electric tacker is used to tack the fabric with tension on it.	As we have many men with a technical background and me as fashon designer to tension the fabric wasn't that hard of a task. Which is good to know for the future as well.
After two and a half months and a day of work, Abdule is willing to pose at the pooltable...	Also Jefta who often played on the old table, even when the fabric was teared, is willing to pose with the new asset of Velserpoort.

Wiede-Wiede-Wiettuin

At the back of the building, Velserpoort houses 20 families who also became homeless due to reasons. But if you wouldn’t know you surely would miss it as almost everyone will right walk into the main entrance. This also means that you will miss the garden behind Velserpoort and half of the people living in that part of the building, as over there is the entrance for the twenty families Velserpoort is housing.

When I arrived and walked for the first time into the garden I was quite shocked of the deteriorate stat the garden was in, as it had the potential of quite a gem. But negligence, a too ambitious project and no budget were just a few reasons.

As it was march and the spring was coming up the subject ‘garden’ came up, and the question if we couldn’t grow vegetables which we would be able to use as an extra. As Dax and Paula already cleaned out the weed at the summer last year and they were to late to grow something the fixed up the greenhouse and wanted to focus on this year. As it meant creating something and being pragmatic with the tools we had, it looked like a fun job to me.

But unfortunately it wasn’t only fun, but also hard work till we had blisters on our hands. But determined of putting some days of energy in to it we slowly were able to see growth into the project. And while some people didn’t understand why we put so much energy in it, they slowly started to see what was on our minds.

As we worked in the kitchen we started to collect seeds of the products we used, like tomatoes, pumpkins and beans. After washing we put them in between wet paper towels to eventually see the slowly sprouting to a seedling. It is nature at it’s finest but still kind of magical. It is why the pictures of our journey says more than the words would tell.

What you won’t see in the pictures is how the garden eventually did became fruitful. Because it did, or better said it ‘could’, because fortunate for us we all got ourselves a new home. It meant for me I needed to focus on my own trajectory and didn’t had the energy to maintain the place. And due to their behaviour Dax and Paula eventually weren’t allowed on the property anymore. And I only can guess what the reason would be. But as I am still proud on what we created with the lack of resources we had, I am proudly to show the pictures of our process.

Behind Velserpoort there is a garden in which normally only the family side has access. As they weren't able to maintain the garden we saw the potential of a win-win situation.	The garden even had a greenhouse to grow varieties of vegetables that normally aren't able to grow in the Dutch climate.	The garden ones was overhauled to let be a place in which children were able to play but also to learn. Unfortunately this idea wasn't followed up by the organisation an it felt more like a neglected place.
This part of the garden formerly was a part in which bunnies were living. But over time the bunnies were not taken well care of and they had to leave. So we flattened everything so were able to grow something on.	We flattened the place out and here I'm posing together with Dax after a long day of hard work.	After flattening out the whole place we made borders of the wood of the old bunny house. By this people were able to distinguish area's in which you were able to walk from places where the plants would grow.
Thus we had an area with more a loose kind of sandy soil, on which potatoes and pumpkins could easily root and grow...	... and on the other side of the border we seeded so called 'turtlebeans' and tomatoplants in a much richer soil.	Almost everything in the garden we let grow from the seed onward. We placed them on a wet papertowel in a glass container to see when they sprout.
After they sprout and get their roots we placed them together in containers so they were able to develop much more roots.	And when the seeds sprouted we tried to lay them ordened so we surely knew it wasn't any weed.	Something we learned was that you already able to see which color beetroot will become when the seed sprouts.
After they went from sprouting to potting we placed hem in to the greenhouse as this was able to mimic nature better than inside in a warm room.	As tomatoes have a lot of seeds and Dax let them all sprout we eventually had to select the best growing seeds. And put them together in a container with more space, so they would root better.	Also Dax collected the seeds of some Marigolds over time. As they look and smell sweet they attract bees, which would be good for the garden.
As there wasn't any budget available we were devoted to donations of people who cleaned out their shed and gave us the stuff for free.	As the tomatoplants grow fast and needed something to climb along we looked at how they would do it professionally and mimicked their way.	It ordered really the greenhouse in a nice manner. And we could only dream of seeing it all grow to the top.
On the sides we placed borders as well. Together with some left over material of a fence that ones was in the garden.	As we firstly didn't had a waterpoint outside, we watered them with jerrycans.	As we got our hands on some kale seeds and in Holland it's called farmers-kale, we thought about how the agriculture would seed it.
When we went to get rich soil at the DIY-market for growing some kale, they were throwing away some of the plants as they wouldn't sale anymore. When we asked to adopt them it was fine and we got some nice flowers around the borders of our kale.	Eventually while working in the garden to maintain and develop it the first results were showing. Like this pumpkin-flower that maybe one day would become a pumpkin.	Also at the border of the 'kale-field' the donated plants started to flower.
And while colleagues Jefta and Paula took a break, Dax and myself took the time to clean the outside of the green-house to get as much sunlight in it as possible.	And meanwhile we planted some more seeds that grow better late in the summer, like the bell-peppers and red pepper.	When they sprouted we immediately put them about six centimeter in to the ground. We took small sticks to mark them and would not weed them out.
After a week it went from a kind of graveyard into a nice field of pepperplant.	Also we got some beans of one of the security guys at Velserpoort, who really liked what we were doing and supported us with his advise.	Our friend Abdulle also very supportive and helped us to remind and watering the garden everyday. To me it showed the potential of the garden, as it spreads a certain kind of positive energy.
Also Dax got some seeds of the Physalis of his mom. So there was a urgency to put a border in again.	As we were halfway within the season Dax got the message that after two long years of waiting he finally got a room at 'Nieuw Unicom'. A place in which they would be able to support him with his disease.	But while he was away he sometimes came back to work a bit more and always kept asking how the garden was growing. And especially the marigold as he got that seeds from his mom.
And they did pretty well as they kept developing flowers...	It showed for me really that nature gives back the energy that you're willing to put into it.

Velserpoort has a semi-professional kitchen in which every day food gets prepared freshly for around 40 people.

Although the kitchen is ran by volunteers, the hygiene is hijgh on the priority list. Thus we heve a great dishwasher Abdulle, he always smiles and calls himself the 'Afwas-Engineer'.

The daily kitchencrew exists most of the time of about three persons. One of them does the ordering, communication of the menu, and is called the chef, To me most of the time it is just facilitating the team and let them de the produce while I prepare the next step.

One of the volunteers was Mr. Hoed, Despite being in an episode of depression, Mr Hoed liked to work in the kitchen despite not having any experience.

The variety of food we make is quite broad. Although we try to do as much starting from scratch, sometimes we'd need to make shortcuts because of he limited time of a kitchenservice.

When I make the menu's I always look at the season. Through working this way we get the best food within the daily budget.

The cultural variety at Velserpoort being quite broad, we know we can't cook for everyone exclusively. It also means we that we sometimes make Dutch Classics. And when there is complaining I always go in conversation to understand if it quality or taste.

Having limited budget makes that nine out of the ten days they eat chicken like these yakitori-style. But when it is possible we certainly do like to vary. Like these shrimps were on sale and we were able ot make a nice gumbo with some rice and as salad loaded fries.

As one the days I cook is the saturday, I always try to look at comfort food. Like for instance lahmacun in here better known as Turkish Pizza with a 'Kumpir' on the side.

On exception we;re allowed to make a desert. As cheesecake is favorite I most of the time make one that is related to season we cook in. As Mr Hoed was due to healthproblems a vegan I also made together with him a vegan chocolate pie.

Christmas is coming at Velserpoort, this means there will be big tree in the hallway. But once seen it, it looked a bit empty. Thus we offered to make some merinque-wreaths and after a few hours of extra work the tree looked like Christmas was really happening.

As we had some leftover we decided to pack them up and give them to some of the people of who we believed they deserved such a small present.

After peeling fourteen kilogram of GIeser-Wildeman pears, we stewed them in water with cassis syrup and a bit of color powder to give it this golden orange color. Eventually it came on a plate with a beutiful filled chicken leg, mashed potatoe and soms vegetable.

After Christmas was over, the supermarket came up with a collecting stickerbook for children. As it was a cookbook we eventually got it complete and wanted to celebrate this with a special menu...

We decided to be selective about what we chose as the budget could've become else a dealbreaker.

Although upfront people complained that they weren't little children and that we weren't respecting the food, it eventually became quite a succes as they were able to pick everything they wanted.

The old situation in the hallway of Velserpoort.

The old situation right at the entrance.

The old pooltable was the second table within a few years, reason to invest in something more sustainable.

The base of the pooltable made from mainly hardwood shows it is made to last.

We first builded the side parts of the table onto it as with tension on the fabric and maybe a sharp edge it could rip.

Pre-fitting everything so we evade any problems

As the fabric was transported we it had some creases, after a night laying it over the table we ironed the last few ones out.

An overview of the build up of the table.

An electric tacker is used to tack the fabric with tension on it.

As we have many men with a technical background and me as fashon designer to tension the fabric wasn't that hard of a task. Which is good to know for the future as well.

After two and a half months and a day of work, Abdule is willing to pose at the pooltable...

Also Jefta who often played on the old table, even when the fabric was teared, is willing to pose with the new asset of Velserpoort.

Behind Velserpoort there is a garden in which normally only the family side has access. As they weren't able to maintain the garden we saw the potential of a win-win situation.

The garden even had a greenhouse to grow varieties of vegetables that normally aren't able to grow in the Dutch climate.

The garden ones was overhauled to let be a place in which children were able to play but also to learn. Unfortunately this idea wasn't followed up by the organisation an it felt more like a neglected place.

This part of the garden formerly was a part in which bunnies were living. But over time the bunnies were not taken well care of and they had to leave. So we flattened everything so were able to grow something on.

We flattened the place out and here I'm posing together with Dax after a long day of hard work.

After flattening out the whole place we made borders of the wood of the old bunny house. By this people were able to distinguish area's in which you were able to walk from places where the plants would grow.

Thus we had an area with more a loose kind of sandy soil, on which potatoes and pumpkins could easily root and grow...

... and on the other side of the border we seeded so called 'turtlebeans' and tomatoplants in a much richer soil.

Almost everything in the garden we let grow from the seed onward. We placed them on a wet papertowel in a glass container to see when they sprout.

After they sprout and get their roots we placed them together in containers so they were able to develop much more roots.

And when the seeds sprouted we tried to lay them ordened so we surely knew it wasn't any weed.

Something we learned was that you already able to see which color beetroot will become when the seed sprouts.

After they went from sprouting to potting we placed hem in to the greenhouse as this was able to mimic nature better than inside in a warm room.

As tomatoes have a lot of seeds and Dax let them all sprout we eventually had to select the best growing seeds. And put them together in a container with more space, so they would root better.

Also Dax collected the seeds of some Marigolds over time. As they look and smell sweet they attract bees, which would be good for the garden.

As there wasn't any budget available we were devoted to donations of people who cleaned out their shed and gave us the stuff for free.

As the tomatoplants grow fast and needed something to climb along we looked at how they would do it professionally and mimicked their way.

It ordered really the greenhouse in a nice manner. And we could only dream of seeing it all grow to the top.

On the sides we placed borders as well. Together with some left over material of a fence that ones was in the garden.

As we firstly didn't had a waterpoint outside, we watered them with jerrycans.

As we got our hands on some kale seeds and in Holland it's called farmers-kale, we thought about how the agriculture would seed it.

When we went to get rich soil at the DIY-market for growing some kale, they were throwing away some of the plants as they wouldn't sale anymore. When we asked to adopt them it was fine and we got some nice flowers around the borders of our kale.

Eventually while working in the garden to maintain and develop it the first results were showing. Like this pumpkin-flower that maybe one day would become a pumpkin.

Also at the border of the 'kale-field' the donated plants started to flower.

And while colleagues Jefta and Paula took a break, Dax and myself took the time to clean the outside of the green-house to get as much sunlight in it as possible.

And meanwhile we planted some more seeds that grow better late in the summer, like the bell-peppers and red pepper.

When they sprouted we immediately put them about six centimeter in to the ground. We took small sticks to mark them and would not weed them out.

After a week it went from a kind of graveyard into a nice field of pepperplant.

Also we got some beans of one of the security guys at Velserpoort, who really liked what we were doing and supported us with his advise.

Our friend Abdulle also very supportive and helped us to remind and watering the garden everyday. To me it showed the potential of the garden, as it spreads a certain kind of positive energy.

Also Dax got some seeds of the Physalis of his mom. So there was a urgency to put a border in again.

As we were halfway within the season Dax got the message that after two long years of waiting he finally got a room at 'Nieuw Unicom'. A place in which they would be able to support him with his disease.

But while he was away he sometimes came back to work a bit more and always kept asking how the garden was growing. And especially the marigold as he got that seeds from his mom.

And they did pretty well as they kept developing flowers...

It showed for me really that nature gives back the energy that you're willing to put into it.