Charelle van der Hoek: everyone here has their heart in the right place

This is Charelle van der Hoek (29), regional coordinator for Utrecht at Careibu. She has now worked here for just over two years. "Because connecting people with each other is an important driving force for me," she says about why she works at Careibu. "And here I get to bring two wonderful groups together: students and seniors."

About her colleagues, Charelle says: "Everyone here has their heart in the right place. We sometimes joke that we're a bunch of do-gooders. Everyone wants to make a meaningful contribution to society. We're sociable, we want to make an impact, we want to matter."

As regional coordinator, Charelle handles many (online) intake conversations, speaks with seniors or their contact people, and coaches students in supporting their senior. "It often leads to lovely stories," she says. "A senior learning to video call her grandchildren for the first time in her life, for example. Or a senior who, thanks to our student, comes out of isolation and now goes to dance class."

Recently she matched a young DJ with a senior who used to be a DJ too. "The senior is curious about how the scene works these days, and our student is equally thrilled to hear all the stories from back then and learn from them. This is exactly why I do this work."

Of course, there are difficult days too. "Personally, I find it hard when I can't manage to satisfy a senior. And sometimes I come across seniors in heartbreaking situations that I can't do anything about — we're not a care organisation. But that's the nice thing about our team: we support each other on those kinds of days too."

You have to be able to switch gears well in this job, Charelle explains. "Sometimes after eight hours of going full throttle, I think: what did I actually get done today? The skills you need are similar to my previous job in hospitality: being sociable, listening well, coaching, observing."

On growth opportunities, she concludes: "We work with a small team. If you have a good idea, or spot an opportunity, our culture is quickly: sounds great, go for it. Let's see if it works."