Social Support to Deal With Debts: Schuldhulpmaatje (Debt Relief Buddy) Can Be Decisive for Successful Debt Relief

Coaching Towards Self-Reliance

"Our volunteers have a social, coaching role in debt counseling, and we do not view that role lightly," explains Elmar Hommes, director of SchuldHulpMaatje The Hague. "We always strive to make people financially self-reliant, and that is a bigger challenge than it seems.” Volunteers therefore receive a standard 3-day training course before they can get started, and after that, training courses are also available to further boost their knowledge and skills.

“The training is not about learning technical financial skills, such as drawing up budgets, eliminating payment arrears and the like. You work towards the point when the person you help can take back control of their own life. That they themselves think “I'm not going to hide it anymore. I'm going to start creating overview, or I'll call the municipality” says Elmar. People who turn to SchuldHulpMaatje have often been in debt for years and carry the burden of stress and tension with them all that time. So if you get someone to a point where they want to take action themselves, then the most important step has already been taken.

Courage and Patience

Getting this far, however, requires a good dose of patience and the right attitude and skills. “Sometimes it takes months before all the necessary papers have surfaced and the creditors are known. Sometimes stacks of unopened letters have to be rummaged through, and sometimes the papers have even been thrown away. It takes a lot of courage from the person requesting help to face those mountains of paper, which have often accumulated for years. The empathy to recognize this must be present in the volunteer. A volunteer who starts with a business attitude and immediately starts working with a kind of to-do list in his head and expects results quickly, he will soon drop out”.

Elmar: “Our volunteers are usually highly educated and many have financial jobs. They are happy to transfer their knowledge to people who find it difficult, such as our target group. For these volunteers, the challenge is to not try to solve the problems for the people.” The volunteer should not make a project plan and drag the requester along with it. “We sometimes say that as SchuldHulpMaatje you are a kind of driving instructor. You provide guidance and directions, and very occasionally you may need to intervene. But the person requesting help is at the wheel.” At some point, the person requesting help has to be able to do it himself. And that means that they must be able to make the overviews and budget plans themselves. Every year, the SchuldHulpMaatjes in The Hague guide about 240 people with their money problems, with the help of about 200 volunteers.

Contact and Trust as a Foundation

A SchuldHulpMaatje assistance program always starts with building a relationship of trust. The first appointments are about attention for each other and pleasant interaction. After that, you can start creating an overview and making agreements. This is followed by the last phase, maintaining the payment agreements. “That can sometimes be very difficult because people have to make do with less. In more difficult moments, the SchuldHulpMaatje is there to hold up the mirror for the person and help reflect on the situation. In these moments, the bond of trust that was built up in the beginning is of great importance. The person receiving help must realize that the buddy really wants the best for them, even if he or she may be somewhat strict.” says Elmar.

More Effective Assistance Through a Neighborhood Approach

The SchuldhulpMaatje Den Haag Foundation is now working in various ways to improve their services. For example, efforts are being made to strengthen cooperation with social partners in the city. In addition, more is being invested in neighborhood teams. “We notice that knowing a neighborhood well enables us to guide people requesting assistance more effectively. It helps us more easily indicate which facilities are available" Elmar explains. In addition, SchuldHulpMaatje The Hague has grown considerably and has become a large group with 200 volunteers. “Many volunteers also join a foundation because they want to belong to a club and make social contacts.” That is why neighborhood teams have now been formed as a trial, with roughly 20 volunteers who are responsible for all those seeking help from that neighborhood. They also have a community center, a place where they can meet with the other volunteers. Four times a year the team has intervision led by a professional intervision leader. There the volunteers can indicate challenges they encounter, share experiences and see how they can learn from each other. “We now see that the satisfaction of the volunteers in the neighborhood teams is higher than in the rest of the organization. So, we are now focusing on a transformation of the entire organization towards neighborhood teams" Elmar indicates. "With this change, we are killing several birds with one stone."

Interested in contributing to SDG 1 by becoming a SchuldHulpMaatje? Sign up as a volunteer!