There has been intense contact in 2016 between the refugees of Peeterskasteel and a group of people from the region. The skills of both groups were such that there were sufficient opportunities to outline a project for the future with the refugees. The aim of the project was to offer the refugees, who had already been in our country, and more specifically in our region (The Hageland) for four months, a process that would lead to a meaningful daily occupation, an affordable home, either autonomously or within a buddy system. Anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit had the opportunity to develop it. In this way we anchored talent in our region and reduced dependence on all types of care and support mechanisms. We achieved this by building up a cooperative platform that brought together (local) business people, the real estate sector and the existing social network that is active in our region. They now form a support committee that is deploying its own expertise, thinking out of the box and looking for solutions for a new group of people arriving here hoping for a new future.
