Besides my work at Quooker, I dedicate my time to helping people experiencing homelessness

Besides my work at Quooker, I dedicate my time to helping people experiencing homelessnessAt Quooker, we aim to run our business in a socially responsible way, with care for people both inside and outside our company. We are proud that our employees share these values. One example is Karlee Doove, who spends almost all of her free weekends helping people experiencing homelessness. 

Karlee Doove is a supply chain planner at Quooker. Although she works full time, she started a project in her free time: Help.Waar.Kan.
“It started in 2021, during the COVID period,” she explains. “Besides my work, I didn’t do much and spent a lot of time at home watching Netflix. I wanted to get outside and felt the need to make myself useful. I wanted to help people, but who?
Inspired by videos about helping people experiencing homelessness in the United States, I started looking into homelessness in the Netherlands. What I didn’t know was that around 32,000 people in the Netherlands live on the streets, not even including those who are unregistered. That number made my head spin. I went outside, looking for someone who could use my help.”
One of the first people Karlee met was Theo. “May I sit with you for a moment?” With that question, a whole new adventure began for Karlee.

'My main goal is to raise awareness.'

Theo shared his story with Karlee and gave her permission to film it. Karlee posted the video on TikTok, where it was quickly picked up and widely shared. More than 1.2 million people saw Theo: a man who could easily be someone’s father or brother, who had fallen on hard times and had been living on the streets against his will for a year and a half.
“I received an enormous number of responses. People wanted to help or donate money.” Through GoFundMe, she started a crowdfunding campaign that raised €3,500. She used this money, among other things, to pay for personal care for Theo to help him in his search for a job.
“And perhaps even more importantly,” says Karlee, “people now notice Theo when they see him on the street. They talk to him, ask if he would like a sandwich.” Karlee now regularly vlogs about and with Theo.
“My main goal with the project is to raise awareness, the realization that no one lives on the streets by choice and that it can happen to anyone.”
Thanks to one of Karlee’s followers, Theo now has a temporary place to stay. “Theo cried tears of happiness when that happened. Yes, others my age spend their weekends in bars. I help people experiencing homelessness. That gives me so much more satisfaction.”
﻿www.helpwaarkan.nl﻿
TikTok: Help.Waar.Kan (@help.waar.kan) – Watch the latest TikTok videos from Help.Waar.Kan.

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