"20 years! It doesn’t make me any younger… and at the same time, it brings back everything we have built together.
20 years of presence in the field, of consistency and humanity.
20 years that made it possible, among other things, for 230 people to leave the street, for hundreds of professionals to be trained, and for around 200 colleagues and dozens of volunteers to join us – and to build friendships, and sometimes more.
20 years that have shown us that leaving the street is possible, and that ending homelessness is not a utopia.
I will never be grateful enough to Sara Janssens and Marie-Thérèse Reul de la Fontaine, who made the creation of Street Nurses possible, and above all to Pierre Ryckmans, who supported and guided me for 18 years. He professionalised our entire follow-up methodology, paid close attention to “rule number 6” and the art of possibilities, and immediately supported this vision: ending homelessness is possible.
Despite the positive outcomes and the commitment of everyone involved, these years were not always easy. We went through a lot: returns to the street, the deaths of patients, of some volunteers, and of course of Pierre. It was also 20 years in a sometimes harsh and discouraging political context, with funding uncertainties. All of this affects us.
But today, I would like us to focus on something else. On our power to act. On what still depends on us every day: the way we look at the people we support, our colleagues in the network and in the team, and the way we work together. “They are amazing, we are amazing” – let’s trust that.
For 20 years, it has been the patients who guide us in our mission.
Every person, every encounter has been a source of inspiration, creativity and hope.
Over time, Street Nurses has become a true laboratory for ending homelessness. Not with the idea of ending homelessness alone, or within five years, but as a space where we dare to test, sometimes fail, start again, and above all share. A laboratory where we invent and implement everything possible to make the end of homelessness happen sooner.
Street Nurses was built thanks to everyone: colleagues, board members, volunteers, interns, and of course thanks to the patients and the network of partner organisations.
Every contribution and shared experience has allowed us to transform, evolve and go further. Let’s continue, and not be afraid of our bold ideas…
And finally, our work is about reconciliation, about second chances – or even tenth chances – and above all about love. Not a naïve love, but a concrete, demanding and committed one.
The kind of love that still believes in others, and in the future, when everything seems lost. That may well be the driving force behind Street Nurses for the past 20 years.
And that is what allows us to keep going, together.
Thank you to each and every one of you – and happy anniversary to us."
words from Emilie Meessen, co-coordinator