Municipalities
When it comes to participation and financial security, municipalities face a pile-up of challenges. The most direct route to improvement is taking part: work, entrepreneurship or social activation. That's where people often get stuck on a practical obstacle. There's no laptop for training. The bike to get to work is unaffordable. A missing certificate that's needed to work safely.
Offering a solution for every situation and every person is a challenge for a municipality. It doesn't fit within existing rules, budgets and policy frameworks, because of precedent, legal compliance and feasibility.
That's exactly what Everyday Heroes specialises in. For each resident, we provide the tailored support they need. We record who needs what, what it achieved and who made it possible. By combining funds from businesses, municipalities, foundations and individuals, we create a local catalysing fund that helps residents move forward.
LOCAL IMPACT
Everyday Heroes does exactly what residents need.
THE VALUE OF TAILORED SUPPORT
Where it gets stuck is a two-thousand-euro driving licence.
"Whether people can get to work isn't a question of motivation, it's a sum. And sums can be solved."
Súdwest-Fryslân has its infrastructure for helping people forward well in place. Area teams who know their residents, work-based learning places, employers who want to train someone up. In practice, though, some residents run aground on a practical obstacle. Affordable, yet unaffordable: two thousand euros for driving lessons, a few hundred euros for tools, a set of dentures. Amounts no scheme exists for, and which at the same time make the difference between starting or not.
"I didn't want yet another service desk. Our professionals know who's sitting across from them, they just didn't have a button to press to get something sorted. Now they do. With one agreement: it's possible, within reason. An electric bike, yes, a car, no." Besides work, we also make the step to volunteering, part-time work and entrepreneurship possible. As long as it's a demonstrable improvement.
Everyday Heroes builds on what's already there. And the investment has a direct effect in the region too. "The driving lessons are given by a local driving school, the bike comes from the bike shop round the corner. We're investing twice in the same region! So I want to keep going. We can see that what we thought is right: we can do our work even better with targeted, affordable investments."
Marianne Poelman | Alderman for Work and Income, Care and Services | Municipality of Súdwest-Fryslân
GOVERNMENTS AND PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP
What a municipality sets in motion.
Within their policy frameworks, municipalities and implementing organisations support a great many residents. Even so, because of precedent, legal compliance and feasibility, there's often a group that falls through the cracks. Not every resident and every situation can be made an exception. Everyday Heroes does have that room, and that's where the social gain is greatest.
Municipalities use Everyday Heroes to help residents and neighbourhoods genuinely take part more. With a relatively small investment, one concrete barrier can be removed, so someone can take the step to work, entrepreneurship or social participation. That investment acts as a catalyst: it creates movement where someone would otherwise stand still, and it can be boosted further with SROI contributions from businesses. This gives the municipality a flexible, tailor-made tool it can deploy quickly.
What's more, the knowledge grows. For every resident, neighbourhood, target group and theme, we record what the barrier was, which intervention worked and what it delivered. That builds a picture of what works in your own region, and a foundation to build policy on.
HOW IT WORKS IN YOUR MUNICIPALITY
Tailored support for every municipality.
By working together, we solve every practical obstacle for residents, so they can move forward.
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By setting up a dedicated budget for tailored support for a municipality, district or neighbourhood, a municipality organises tailored support where it's needed most.
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Municipalities invest themselves, and businesses, foundations and individuals join in. That way a contribution becomes catalytic and tailored support becomes structural.
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Wherever possible, tailored support is bought locally. So it's not just the vulnerable resident who moves forward, local small businesses benefit too.
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Everyday Heroes specialises in organising tailored support. Delivery and reporting are organised carefully and quickly within the foundation.
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More self-worth, income and prospects. People who take part are happier and mean more to their family and home situation, employers, the municipality and society.