'Working here just gives more peace of mind.'

Chantal Nowee has been working at Werkse! for nine years when we speak to her, she is working in the Assembly department, where she is currently assembling parts for solar panels.

‘A nice group and also very nice work,’ she says. ‘A bit of fiddling, though, but I do like fiddling. I have many creative hobbies and among them is crocheting mini cuddly toys’. At this, she points to a few millimetres with her fingers. ‘But I also make jewellery and I paint. All those trinkets. There is also a new customer in now. That’s Secrid, of those card holders and wallets. We make security locks for them in the shop. That’s another bit of fiddling!”
After Chantal joined Werkse! she first worked on secondment at Post NL and DHL. ‘Being seconded is a bit exciting. A first interview, new colleagues, being afraid of not fitting in with the group, things like that’.
Later, she was employed in cleaning up archives of all kinds of companies. ‘I learned a lot from that, including digitising and scanning’.

Animal care
Chantal says she finished secondary school at Stanislascollege and then did an Animal Care course and got the basic diploma for it. ‘But you can’t really do that much with that. You can work in a pet shop, but then you’re just a saleswoman and that’s not what I had trained for. My big wish was to work in a zoo, but very few places become available there. And animal shelters really only employ volunteers. If you want to continue caring for animals you have to study veterinary medicine for six years, but because I suffered brain damage at birth, studying is difficult for me’.
We ask if Chantal has also worked in home care. ‘Yes, at home care organisation Florein’ she replies. ‘I came to people’s homes to help with housework. But I didn’t quite fit in with the group and then Florein helped me get an indication for Werkse! That’s how I came here.’

Certainty
When asked what Werkse! means to Chantal, she answers enthusiastically ‘I think you are helped very well. I’ve had so many jobs. And then still kept leaving. Here you have security. Not the stress and misery of applying for benefits all the time. And then you have to apply again, but at some point you no longer know what you can apply for because then you feel like you’ve already done everything. Or you have to have certain diplomas or a driving licence again. Working here just gives more peace of mind’.

Help with private problems
Chantal was also photographed for Werkse!’s new advertising campaign in which employees talk about what being active means to them. ‘I am also very proud to work!’ she says. ‘You are well supported here and you don’t have to be afraid of being fired for the umpteenth time. And if something bad happens in your private life, you are also helped with that if you want.’
She talks about the period of her divorce. ‘I found it very difficult what was coming at me, what you have to arrange. I then had conversations with a social worker from Werkse! and she guided me through everything. I could get domestic help and also financial help, such as guardianship. The latter was not necessary for me; fortunately I could handle all that myself. But the help with all the red tape was very welcome. You basically have to start all over again anyway’.

The future
Chantal is not worried about the future. I really enjoy what I do now. I work in a fun group where there is a lot of laughter and I never go to work reluctantly. And maybe something else will come along in the future. I am still young and it will be a long time before I retire. Maybe I will be seconded again somewhere where I can learn other things. I would really like that, even though I don’t know exactly what yet.’