Newsletter november 2024

Dear Friends,

Last month, Stichting Connected celebrated its first anniversary! Although we’ve been active in refugee support since 2015, it has been one year since we officially established ourselves as a foundation.
It has been a beautiful, exciting, and educational year.

We began by creating a website that we’re really proud of: www.stichtingconnected.nl.
We have raised awareness about our foundation, which has led to warm and encouraging responses from friends, family and acquaintances, as well as financial support.
In addition, we have explored the many organizations in Utrecht that are involved in supporting refugees. Through Welkom in Utrecht, we’ve received an increasing number of requests for help from asylum seekers who are unable to afford the services they need. Welkom in Utrecht assists refugees in reception centers until they receive asylum (after which Refugee Services take over).
Our support truly makes a difference in these situations.

Material Support

• We’ve been able to help many parents by providing them with buggy’s, strollers and bike seats (thank you, Marktplaats!).
• We arranged a mobility scooter for a Syrian man with ALS.

• We also organized a mobility scooter for a young man from Somalia, who can hardly walk due to a serious accident.
• We took women to the Lapjesmarkt to choose fabric, so they could make their own clothes.
• We bought a pink children’s bike for the daughter of an African woman, and a tablet so they can learn the language.
• We provided an electric toothbrush and a razor for a Syrian father of six children who has polio.
• Our latest project was assembling a new three-wheeled bike – bought cheaply with a few scratches – for an adult woman, who was absolutely thrilled and can now more easily get to her language school. We always try to find good items for a low price.

• Coming up next, we’ll be providing glasses for a girl whose eyesight is deteriorating faster than her insurance will cover.
• We’ll also be covering the cost of guitar strings for music lessons.
Who knows what else is in store for us! There’s always something new each week.

It’s incredibly rewarding to see how we’re able to improve the quality of life for these refugees. Many of them have been traumatized by war or extreme insecurity in their home countries, and they have had to leave all their loved ones behind. Although our interactions when we deliver items are often brief, they are deeply emotional and satisfying. The gratitude we receive is overwhelming – and it’s mutual!

Non-material Support

• We helped someone who was assigned an apartment by assisting with the move, painting, picking up items from Marktplaats, and assembling furniture.

• We helped a Turkish woman relocate from Utrecht to Almere.
• Corinne drove Patrick from Congo to the hospital several times after he broke his leg. He needed transport and it was also a great opportunity to get to know him better.
• We assisted our friend from Zimbabwe in moving from her reception center in France to her own apartment. We did some work in he house, bought furniture, and helped turn her apartment into a home.
• Corinne took an 18-year-old boy from Siera Leone to Zwolle to pick up important papers. He was too anxious to go alone.
In short, the requests and activities have been varied and diverse!

You can follow us on Instagram to read more about our work: stichtingconnected

As a team, we are becoming more and more in sync. We are used to work together. We make a great trio, each bringing our own strengths and qualities to the table.
We inspire one another and are incredibly motivated. The more challenges refugees face, the more we appreciate the role of our foundation in bringing humanity to life!
At the same time, we see many other inspiring initiatives for and with refugees. The news we see in the papers and on TV is limited and one-sided and it’s important to stay aware of that!
We are looking forward to the year ahead and hope to expand our work even further.
A big thank you to everyone who has supported us in any way! Your interest and financial contributions make us feel like we’re doing this together – this truly feels like Connected!

Donations, big or small, are always welcome!
IBAN: NL12TRIO 0320 7420 59 in the name of Stichting Connected

Warm regards,
Eluna, Hans and Corinne

Newsletter december 2025

Dear friends,

We look back on a wonderful and active year for the foundation. We live up to our name, the Connected Foundation, because it’s through this connection that we can do our work.
A connection with ’Welkom in Utrecht’ (Welcome to Utrecht), the organization that works at the five asylum seekers’ center locations in Utrecht. They know their residents so they can ask us specific questions about what’s needed.
Sometimes the items we arrange are also for people who have already received their asylum. They have a home now and need assistance with that. We go with them to second hand stores and assemble cabinets.
We also experience connection every time we can hand over the items to the people themselves. Then there’s connection, joy, gratitude and warmth. Then we realize that we are equal, just human. Their circumstances are different, but otherwise, we’re no different.
Surprisingly, we also often experience this sense of connection when we collect items from strangers via Marktplaats. We’ve visited people we don’t know over a 100 times. We usually mention that we have a foundation and most people react so enthusiastically and kindly! We regularly receive discounts or things for free. The media often gives us the impression that people are becoming hardened and that refugees are not welcome. What we experience over and over again is that most people are good people and they are happy to contribute to the well-being of refugees. That’s heartwarming!
Finally, the connection between the three of us—Eluna, Hans and Corinne—is precious. We work together smoothly, adapt quickly, are usually on the same page and enjoy the work, both in terms of content and in the way we do it.

Looking back at what we’ve done, we’ve arranged countless strollers and Maxi-Cosi’s, buggies and cribs. We also provided several bicycles, cargo bikes, tricycles and mobility scooters.
We contributed to the joy of playing by setting up shuffleboard tables, Jenga and a chess game in the communal (play) areas. We provided ping-pong bats, billiards and skipping ropes.
We filled planters with soil and plants to brighten up the entrance of several AZC’s.
We arranged children’s furniture, craft supplies and a bouncy castle for an afternoon party. And much more...too much to mention.

Besides this visible, tangible help, we listened and empathized with them. It remains so moving to hear the stories of people who have lost so much: their country, their culture, their dreams and plans, their loved ones and often their health. The spiritual distress is immense, both due to the inner trauma, the long waiting and the uncertainty of the outcome of the procedures. We can only have respect for those who have to go through this difficult process!

We will continue! We look forward to a new year in which we can support people in whatever way we can.
I would also like to mention the connection with our donors: without you, we couldn’t do all of this.
So thank you so much for your support! We sincerely hope you will support us again. This way, we can work together to ensure the well-being of refugees: the work we love so much.

Love from Eluna, Hans, and Corinne

Connected Foundation
Account number NL12 TRIO 0320 7420 59, stating Stichting Connected

P.S. We regularly post about our activities on Instagram (Connected Foundation) and in a WhatsApp and Signal group. If you’d like to be added to one of these groups, please send a message to c.vulink@gmail.com