When Peet van Adrichem from the foundation 'Weet hoe je leeft!' ('Know how you live') placed a request on an online horticulture marketplace for a second-hand climate computer, Priva and partner Cogas Tech saw an opportunity to help. Priva and Cogas Tech installed a new Compass climate computer and discovered the story of Peet and Jolanda van Adrichem that was behind the request.
There is a particularly nice story behind care nursery 'Weet hoe je leeft'. Rose grower Peet van Adrichem moved in 1998 with his rose nursery, wife and children from Wateringen to Almere to continue the business over there. The Priva climate computer CD750 from 1989 also moved with them. Unfortunately the Van Adrichem family had to end the rose cultivation in 2008, because they too were confronted with the recession that prevailed at that time. So what to do?
Change of direction
The family kept their land and started a caravan storage to make a living. Peet did not let go of his passion for cultivation and as a hobby he cultivated plants and vegetables in the greenhouse. Peet’s wife, Jolanda, at that time worked with mentally disabled people for a large healthcare institution. She saw how some things were addressed there and thought: this should be done in a different way. Peet and Jolanda have a daughter, Selma, with a slight intellectual disability. All of a sudden, all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. The location, the passion for cultivation, the vision on good care and the necessary experience: all the elements for an informative daytime activity were present. The family decided to take four people with a mental disability into their care. Jolanda guided the participants and Peet taught them everything in the field of cultivation. On 2 January 2014, the company that was founded by Jolanda van Adrichem officially became a foundation.
Nowadays, the foundation has 11 employees and a total of 56 participants with either a (mild) intellectual disability, people within mental health care or with a mental disorder. Jolanda: "Despite the fact that the foundation has grown enormously, the starting point of the family remains: transparent care within a non-profit organization." Peet is one of the supervisors of the foundation. He transfers to the participants the sense to grow fruit and vegetables lovingly. For example, at the care nursery they cultivate different types of crops on all kinds of small plots of land. They always did this with help from the 1989 Priva climate computer. Until the computer broke down at the beginning of this year.
Creating a climate for growth
Peet placed a request on tuinbouwmarktplaats.nl asking if there was someone who wanted to donate a second-hand climate computer to the foundation. Priva's product manager Patrick Dankers immediately got some ideas. "Our new climate computer, Priva Compass, would fit perfectly. The start-up computer is super easy to operate and suitable for smaller growing companies," says Patrick Dankers. "Besides, the vision of the care nursery and that of Priva have a lot in common. What the foundation does is ‘creating a climate for growth’ at its core. The care nursery creates a climate in which not only plants but also people can thrive. That is also what we stand for at Priva."
Both the foundation and Priva were enthusiastic, and Priva partner Cogas Tech also wanted to make a contribution by doing the installation for free. As compensation, seniors from a nursing home in Almere visit the foundation for a fun day out, fully cared for by the participants of the foundation. Whether it concerns catering and sales of their grown products on location, woodworking or making of bicycles, participants of the foundation are familiar with all these trades. In the meantime, at the care nursery the Priva Compass computer is in full use and the various crops are doing well.
Making dreams a reality is (not) possible for everyone
Despite the fact that the foundation has grown enormously, the starting point of the family remains: transparent care within a non-profit organization. Jolanda: "Every person deserves to make his or her dreams come true. Our foundation is also committed to this. We are not talking about what someone cannot do, but about what really is possible. Providing care is in fact not difficult at all, the most important thing is that participants feel safe and respected and are appreciated. That is the reason why we make a personal plan together with our participants and then we look at how to implement this plan."
Getting your driving license without reading
"Realizing dreams, that's our motivation", says Jolanda. "For example, it was a dream of one of our participants to get his shovel driving license. Only... he cannot read or write, so learning the theoretical part became difficult. An external party set up a special learning environment for this boy and he was able to get his shovel license. The second step was of course his driver’s license... and he finally got it as well!"
The foundation has already realized quite a few dreams of participants and has prepared participants for the labor market. For example, one of the participants had the desire to become a bicycle mechanic and so the bicycle workshop was created. The same applies to someone who wanted to work with wood. Now the foundation supplies homemade furniture and everything else you can make out of wood.
For more information:
Stichting Weet hoe je leeft!