Stichting HeenenWeer is a volunteer organization that provides elders and people with limited mobility with a sustainable transportation solution. This solution helps them improve their mobility as well as their interaction with their social environment.

Many innovative mobility solutions are starting to appear, as urban population continues to grow and the need of more sustainable transportation systems is clearer than ever. However, a very few of them are meant to solve the problems of those who are less mobile. People of age and/or with physical limitations often become isolated in their own homes, unable to do the most basic routines out of their doorstep, and can ultimately lose all contact with the world around them.

HeenenWeer helps residents with limited mobility in De Pijp and Rivierenbuurt (Amsterdam) by putting them in contact with volunteers who take them from A to B in an electric vehicle. This connection with the ‘social drivers’ helps people with mobility impairment not only to go out and exercise daily routines, such as doing groceries or attending a doctor’s appointment, but also to expand their social network.

We supported HeenenWeer with a monetary contribution and, more importantly, by offering our knowledge, skills and network to help them find a way to be financially sustainable and broaden their activities to other areas of the city. In the coming years HeenenWeer aims to export its set-up to other neighbourhoods within Amsterdam, making this solution available for more residents with limited mobility.