According to Studio040’s research, financial gimmicks are the order of the day in the city’s sheltered housing sector. This can potentially impact the dependent and vulnerable. For example, an increasing number of people who are entitled to sheltered housing end up in homeless shelters. As a result, the number of people on the street with ‘incomprehensible behaviour’ is increasing.
A growing financial crisis is looming over Eindhoven’s sheltered housing system. Studio040’s investigation has revealed that multiple care providers face debts, administrative mismanagement, and questionable financial practices, all while demand for housing among vulnerable residents climbs.
Cracks in the System
The exposé began with Nieuwe Start Woonzorg, where a half-million-euro mishap highlighted deeper issues. Eindhoven-based Futuris Zorg en Werk, now under the vast web of Venturion III—comprising 36 companies—recorded €114 million in revenue in 2023, but its healthcare arm, despite a modest profit, faces mounting internal debt and raised eyebrows over an €8 million dividend payout. Venturion’s solvency remains shy of the healthy threshold, sparking doubts about its financial robustness.
Different Models, Same Concerns
In contrast, Point O, serving clients with severe psychological conditions, operates at a loss. Director Peter Peters defends the approach as “a human choice,” though its balance sheets suggest unsustainability.
Meanwhile, I Am One BV reported zero employees for two years despite incurring €800,000 in personnel costs in 2023. The company blames a payroll admin transition, but remains financially jeopardised, with its parent holding also struggling.
Municipal Oversight
ZorgOkee remains more financially stable but acts as collateral for Limburg’s embattled Mutsaersstichting. The municipality claims it conducts annual reviews, yet loopholes in regulation mean holding companies face limited scrutiny, even as they handle millions in public funds.
Shelters Under Strain
As care firms sideline “difficult clients,” Eindhoven’s homeless shelters, like Springplank040, absorb the fallout. With increasing numbers of eligible individuals stranded, Springplank040 urges the city to launch targeted pilots and create crisis shelter facilities. Despite attempts at collaborative solutions involving GGzE, Lunet Zorg, and Novadic Kentron, the sector’s reliance on public resources prompts a critical question: whether profits should outweigh public welfare.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Seetha
