Sometimes we get questions about our housing-project from outsite the Netherlands. Therefore we translated some information in English.

Dear Toni,

I was pleased to receive such a prompt reply to my mail. Thank you for your detailed questions. As I am relatively new to 'Een Vrolijke Oude Dag' I sent them to Marjan Nieuwenhuis who phoned me to discuss them with me.

The housing project Een Vrolijke Oude Dag (A Gay Old Age) is meant for every woman of fifty or older who considers herself a lesbian. It started ad few years ago (1995) and we have hardly applied for grants or loans so far. We depend on volunteers for the work we do; none of us is being paid for it .....

A Vrolijke Oude Dag is neither a co-operative nor a company: we are a official foundation with donors and supporters.
At the moment we are first of all looking for place, a building in Amsterdam, in which 80 to 100 lesbians can live and which will also have communal space for meetings, lectures, groups, etc. This is not easy in a city like Amsterdam; it may be much easier in other places in the Netherlands.

The reasons are the following:
1. In Amsterdam are many special rules for housing because so many people wants to live her and there is a great shortage of houses, especial of good houses.
2. We want the apartments in our complex to be available for both rich and poor lesbians. This means that 40 procent of the apartments are cheap and can be hired with subsidie and 60 procent is to buy. The subsidized houses has been a problem so far because these houses costs money.
3. We also want the apartments to remain accessible to those with deteriorating health; the houses therefore have to be easy to move around in and to be wheelchair-accessible. This means they have to be built or adapted especially for us, as they would have to be for other people approaching old age who would like to remain where they are as long as possible. This also costs money.
So far we have not been able to secure housing although we are at this moment negotiating with several corporations, with building and contracting companies and with financial agencies.

Last year we came near to obtaining a series of apartments in the southeast of Amsterdam. But negotiations were called off by us at the last moment when it turned out that the corporation, which owned the complex, was not going to meet some of our essential demands.

Some history: the start

what do you want? what is essential?

At first we have talked about our wishes for about four years (from 1995 till 1999). This was a difficult period, because everyone wanted something else. Hot discussions were for example about the following questions: how many women would live there, is it for lesbians only, is it only for lesbians over 50 years and do we name our project explicitly 'lesbian'?
Also we made and distributed several written questionnaires in which we asked lesbians interested in our project how they wanted to live once they got older and what their financial situation was.
In 2000 were there so many differences of opinion between some of the women involved that we split up into two groups. One group ended nine month later because of a lack of volunteers. The other group still exists and is now named 'Een Vrolijke Oude Dag'. Our analysis of the difficult situation that arose in the end was that it is very difficult to talk about your wishes for such a long time without a real place materializing.

Looking for housing.

In January 2001, when we already knew what we wanted (we had made a list of whishes), we decided to look for housing first .We started to do everything you need to do to obtain a big complex for housing: we formed a foundation and started to contact and negotiate with corporations, political parties, the city council, or city councils (we have more than one in Amsterdam), building and contracting companies, and financial companies. At this stage, therefore, we really started to look for housing because we felt we should have something definite to offer to women who are interested in our project and who might consider living in a complex with other 50+ lesbians. We felt it would be easier for them to decide to join us once they knew where exactly they were going to live and how.

Reaching the target group

In June 2003 we started to get women from around the country involved in our plans. A 50+ lesbian can register herself now as a potential inhabitant of an apartment of Een Vrolijke Oude Dag. She can also become a donor first and will then receive a newsletter regularly and be invited to meetings where new plans are announced and discussed. Also we are trying to get more publicity and of course, more supporters. Support from other lesbians is also imperative for our negotiations to be conducted successfully.

Dear Toni, you asked us what advice we could give you. This is difficult because circumstances may vary widely from place to place. It appeared that many lesbian women are enthusiastic about and supportive of our project. However, you may meet with resistance from time to time. The prospect of spending your old age with other lesbian women living near you may be at the same time attractive and daunting. 50+ lesbians may also express doubts about living in a complex with other lesbians. You should take their objections seriously. You should also take any reason a lesbian woman might have for joining your project seriously. One reason is as good as another.

At last: I hope I have answered your questions to your satisfaction. If you have other questions, please let us know. We would also VERY MUCH like to be informed about all your plans with regard to housing for older lesbians. Please write to us about them.
We will also let you know about developments from our side.

Best wishes, Frederike