FRANS EXPERIENCE EXPERT
“Feeling grounded in places doesn’t come easy to me – my gypsy personality is too stubborn for that if I may be honest. But well, maybe it is something you can not deny when you have been born in the gypsy wagon of your granddad. Yes indeed, a real gypsy wagon."
Feeling grounded in places doesn’t come easy to me – my gypsy personality is too stubborn for that if I may be honest. But well, maybe it is something you can not deny when you have been born in the gypsy wagon of your granddad. Yes indeed, a real gypsy wagon: a wooden colossus with a round roof, equipped with a horse and wagon. It was a romanticised definition of life, growing up in such a piker community. Almost… no, certainly: fairylike. If the Dutch government still tolerated such a lifestyle then my choice would be easy.
When you come from such a place there are only two things that matter to you: your pride and your origin. Which makes this instantly the only thing you have. The outside world is giving you scornful looks because you differ from the norm. However, this only pushes you to clamp even more fixated on that very thing they hate you so much for.
With the loss of my family, I instantly lost everything. I was taken in by the hard core of a football club. This was my gateway to a life full of alcohol, drugs, and especially violence. I’ve hurt a lot of people from that moment on. Family. Friends. And most often myself. I recognize my wrongdoing. I’ve been punished for it and did my time. Now I would like to move on. But my history doesn’t care about what I want. It is in writing and it will follow me forever.
Till today my pride and origin are shaping my core values. All the people that took care of me during my life could count on my feeling of pride and sense of origin. This makes me a whole-blood gypsy forever. This makes me a whole-blood hooligan forever. This makes me a whole-blood ‘gabber’, something that will never go away.
HOW_IS_FRANS_
CURRENTLY_DOING_?
Frans just got a nice new home with the help of Housing First, an organization that helps people with relatively complicated problems, to get back on track. This all starts with one simple thing: a house. Without conditions (#nobuts). From there on, Housing First guides people in finding their way. Frans is over his head about his new place.
He gets coaching two times a week. He has some problems with writing and reading, so he gets help with opening his mail. His children and ex are also doing good. He stopped most of his drug abuse. He does not use any cocaine or heroin anymore.
Soon, he would like to start his ‘EMDR’ therapy to cope with his traumas from the past. He has finally reached the point where he wanted to be, it took him almost five years.
With the campaign ‘No Buts, House First’ we hope to raise more awareness for the philosophy and effective approach of Housing First.
