It was inevitable that, following the success of the social square at the former Reformed church on Tielse Schaepmansstraat, the realization of Social Square 2 was now well underway.

Social Square is a multi-tenant building where multiple organizations without a commercial basis can find their accommodations and promote each other at the same time and share costs where possible. The same Social Square 1 board managed once again to acquire an empty building with an originally social function. The Van den Heer Hoogendijk van Domselaar Foundation helped them again. Social Square 2 is the former pastor. van ‘t Hof Mavo, Christian mavo until the summer of 1997, at the Medelsestraat in Tiel.

compliments
The building is currently undergoing extensive renovation and renovation. However, a new resident is already moving in. From Monday 30 May 2022, KLESTEO (Clothing and Toy Bank Tiel en Omstreken) will occupy one of the “suites” on the ground floor of the building. Peter Decker, president of the Social Square Foundation, is busy, too. “Greetings to the ladies at KLESTEO, they do it all themselves and move mountains with work, paint, sauces, ceiling installation, cabinetry installation and furnishing.” Peter tours the building where, in addition to KLESTEO, the food bank will also have its own “shop” in the basement and the Leergeld and Tielse Schuldhulpmetjes institution will be upstairs. “At the top, there is still an area of ​​about 150 square metres, and the best thing is to create an institution linked to ANBI here as well,” Peter says. “Comrades and tuition fees on the first floor are not there every day. The intention is to sublet these spaces so that soon there will be daily occupancy and users can rent them out for little money. † ANBI organizations interested in this space can request information from the Social Square Tiel ([email protected]See also the website: www.sociaalpleintiel.nl).

Sustainability

The classrooms in the building can still be recognized. These will be “shops and storage areas”, all users will have their own set of toilets and there are several canteens with kitchens. Internal cooling and freezer cells were taken into account for food bank inventory. The building has been renovated as sustainably as possible. All rooms are equipped with a modern, environmentally friendly heating method, namely with infrared panels. User costs are kept as low as possible, no gas will be used and 50 solar panels will be installed on the roof. Although there is still a lot of renovation and not everything is ready, you can already notice that it will look neat later on. This applies not only to the building but also to the former school yard. “We will provide a clean environment for the neighborhood,” Peter says.

The schoolyard is currently being renovated sponsored by GMB of Opheusden, which in turn commissioned Van der Heijden. The multi-tenant building will soon have 22 to 24 on-site parking spaces and its own bike shed. The garden has not yet been planted, and the gardener has put a hose under the bushes as a system Constant watering.The area around our ‘Social Square 2.’ is also being renovated, Peter says, ‘On the Medelsestraat side, some sidewalk work is being done, the transformer house next door is being demolished and a refurbished children’s playground is now being built. “

the target audience
The Food Bank collects food throughout the week which can be picked up every Friday afternoon between 1.15 pm and 3 pm by qualified. At KLESTEO, goods can be delivered on weekdays between 9 am and 3 pm and on Saturdays between 11 am and 12 noon. Clothes and/or toys can only be picked up by appointment. Both organizations run entirely on volunteers and not everyone can go there. The target group is people below poverty line, they are eligible for food bank card, with this card they can also go to KLESTEO, they are also referred by caregivers like social workers, general practitioners, diaconia etc. . After the summer, there will be the official opening of Social Square 2. “Everyone is welcome to come and have a look afterward,” Peter says.

Photo album. Click on the image to enlarge.