On the 1st of August 2019, Robert got evicted from Woonzorgnet location: 'Van Muijlwijkstraat'. This came with a whole host of problems, but one that is a little bit more out of the ordinary is that you would also lose your Gelrepas. It was only around August of 2020 when he found out that he did not have access to the Gelrepas anymore, whereas in previous years he had. Nothing had changed, in particular his income. It turns out that when you lose your address, you also lose your Gelrepas.
Given that becoming homeless is already a costly endeavor, it is unfair that any means (including reimbursements) are automatically cut off. What makes it even weirder is that when the government can no longer find you in their database, all kinds of automatic systems suddenly work very nicely together to take away everything that you have. But such automatic systems do not exist, nor do they play nicely when you have to apply for these reimbursements later.
Robert takes issue with a lot of parts of how this particular system currently works and would like to see change. In particular, he takes issue with the following:
All Arnhem citizens receive the Gelrepas if their annual income fits the criteria. The municipality checks this through an automatic system. There is no manual application anymore.
For homeless people, the Gelrepas will remain in effect as it should not be tied to somebody's address.
If the Gelrepas is revoked, it should automatically be reactivated if the person becomes eligible again.
Please help by signing this petition and making the change happen.
Do you believe that this situation calls for action? Please sign my petition here and help society move forward.