Marnix Geus: “That makes it so confrontational, the realization that it could happen to any of us”
When Marnix Geus bumped into homeless Paul in Amsterdam on February 5, 2021, he asked where Paul would be staying that evening. After all, it was freezing and Paul didn't have a place to sleep yet. Marnix decided to book him a hotel stay and shared his story on social media, hoping that his network would also help Paul. The post went viral, more than 30,000 euros in donations were raised and a year later there are seven hotels that structurally make rooms available for the homeless. Marnix has now been nominated for the Issue Award 2022 for his efforts, about which we spoke to him for this interview.
After Marnix appealed in his post to, for example, send a card or have a meal delivered for Paul, his foundation The Present Movement received more than 30,000 euros, partly to allow Paul to stay in the hotel longer. With part of this money, Paul has now managed to get his life back in order. The rest of the money was used for projects by Homebass Foundation, Sheltersuit and a donation to De Regenboog Groep, which is committed to helping homeless people in Amsterdam. The enormous movement that was started by Marnix's small action prompted him to also help others in Paul's situation. He started the GiveMe5 project, in which participating hotels structurally reserve five rooms for the homeless for ninety days. In a conversation with a hotel that had indicated that it would also like to help after Marnix's post, the manager almost embarrassedly said that he would like to make five rooms available. However, Marnix was already very enthusiastic about the five available rooms and came up with the idea of asking more hotels to participate: “Imagine if more hotels start doing this, how many people we can get off the street!” In the meantime, seven hotels have joined in and 40 people from the street have been able to start their own lives again.
With the GiveMe5 project he mainly focuses on economically homeless people. These are people who have no psychiatric disorders or addiction problems, but have ended up on the street due to an accumulation of problems. “That makes it so confrontational, the realization that it could happen to any of us,” says Marnix. “If you get sick, lose your job, end up in a divorce; Often it is a few such major life events that cause someone to end up on the street.” Although homelessness has been a growing problem for much longer - in 2019 it emerged that homelessness had doubled in ten years - Marnix notices that the pandemic has made the homeless more likely to stand out: "Because we often walk through the quiet city to take walks or By making phone calls, we see homeless people sooner.”
Nevertheless, according to Marnix, people tend to dehumanize homeless people: “We often see them as a uniform group of problematic types that we ignore. Moreover, we would rather not be confronted with their pain and have a kind of fear of it. I learned a lot from my conversations with Paul about how he experiences things on the street. I generally have a very positive experience with the police and when I encounter officers with my youngest child, they often turn on the flashing light for him. Paul, on the other hand, is more likely to be rushed and told to leave the street or go to the next neighborhood. We are often not aware of things like that and I think we should be more aware of that.”
Marnix has been involved with people who have to rebuild their lives for much longer. With The Present Movement, he has been working with refugees for years. He does notice that there is a painful contrast in how people interact with these groups: “When we draw attention to Paul, a white man with a beard on the streets of Amsterdam, the whole country gets moving and that is very nice of course. . But I am also sure that if his name had been Mohammed and he had come from Syria or Afghanistan, it would not have reached this magnitude.”
With The Present Movement, Marnix is not only concerned with raising awareness, but also with concrete projects: “There are an incredible number of great initiatives: people or organizations that are committed to the most vulnerable people in our society, such as refugees or the homeless. On the other hand, there is also the world of entrepreneurship, where I come from. I know many entrepreneurs who would like to contribute something, but don't know how. These are two worlds that we bring together. Sometimes as a society we have too much tendency to start new projects every time, but there are already thousands of people with projects and experience that can support you and help you make it bigger.” This can of course be done with money and that is always necessary, but Marnix believes it is crucial that entrepreneurs really get involved: “By contributing your expertise, network and time as an entrepreneur, learning can be done on both sides and the projects can be strengthened. .”
With his efforts, Marnix hopes that people will look out for each other more: “With homeless people you often see that when people walk by they just say sorry because they don't have time or change with them. Although that is understandable, I hope through these initiatives to make people aware that it is good to literally think about someone every now and then. Instead of reaching for your wallet, simply ask how someone is doing.”
