Stefan Jansen: "Let's take the lead together to alleviate poverty in Tilburg. Then I am really proud."

Stefan Jansen came into contact with Quiet a number of years ago in various ways. On the one hand, because he has been a member of de Ronde Tafel 28 for over 7 years, a club where about 20 men are committed to the local society. Stefan: "We collected money for the charity Quiet. In the end, we made sure that 100 people were allowed to go to the Efteling, an outing that is not self-evident for many people. We've been doing that for five years now. When you go on such an outing, you really hear people's stories. You hear that there are many different kinds of situations that put someone in poverty." On the other hand, Stefan was also approached by Quiet himself for help. "In my job as a lawyer at De Voort Advocaten, I am very much involved in privacy law and employment law. When Quiet asked for my help, I immediately said yes. I started as voluntary privacy and hr advisor, taking a close look at the way the organization worked and the agreements. That work eventually went a step further. At that time I was a secretary and now I enjoy my role as chairman."

An organization to be proud of

Quiet: the past five years accounted for some 25,000 lucky moments, with contributions from 400 sponsors and winner of the National Volunteer Award 2020. Something they can rightly be proud of at Quiet. Stefan says: "The fact that we were able to make a difference for our members through those 25,000 happy moments is something we as an organization are very proud of. We did it together with the city!" Quiet celebrates the first anniversary and helps to alleviate the situation of people living in poverty. They do this together with local sponsors by offering free products and services to their members. Quiet also wants to strengthen its members by offering training and stimulating social contacts. "We look at the situation per person and try to structurally soften and strengthen it." Why Stefan is a volunteer at Quiet? "In addition to my work and my family, I always want to be involved in at least one organization in Tilburg to put my energy into it. I want to give something back to the city where I grew up and where I have a nice life. I give everyone happiness and pleasure and hope with my efforts to alleviate poverty in the city."

Poverty never left Tilburg

"Our city has a long history of poverty. This stems from the textile industry and other large industries in which many low-skilled workers were employed. People worked hard, did unhealthy work more often, and became ill more quickly. Often without a safety net. The social DNA of Tilburg originated then and helps enormously to alleviate and tackle poverty together. Many organizations and companies stand up against poverty and want to help this group of people. Where there used to be the church, priests and nuns, these are now social organizations such as Quiet. Poverty is growing, but so are the organizations that want to prevent, alleviate, or solve it."

"Let's work together to reduce poverty rates."

Has it struck you in recent years that so much is being built in Tilburg? Do you already speak with pride at parties about your city? Chances are that you do! But do you ever talk about poverty in Tilburg? According to Stefan, we don't do this enough yet. "There is a lot of silent poverty in the city. Many people can't point out anyone who lives in poverty, but still, this is over 10% of the population of Tilburg, that's really a lot!"