The Agnes van Leeuwenberch Foundation

The Agnes van Leeuwenberch Foundation (Huize Agnes) offers temporary shelter and guidance to undocumented women and their children, who find themselves in special and dire circumstances.

A safe home

When women and children come to us, they especially need a safe place where they can relax and not have to worry about the next meal or a place to sleep for the night. Our primary goal is those who provide security. This creates peace and space for exploring the individual possibilities of each resident and plans for the future can be made.

Huize Agnes has four houses, at secret addresses in Utrecht. Only women and children live in these houses. The residents are jointly responsible for a good atmosphere in the house and are responsible for keeping the house clean. Our supervisors, volunteers and interns are regularly present in the houses to see how the residents are doing. The social administrator ensures that the houses are safe and can make repairs when necessary.

Professional tailor-made guidance

Every resident of Huize Agnes receives professional guidance that is tailored to her personal situation. In doing so, we start from the strengths of clients and the resources in their environment. We try to strengthen the self-reliance and social participation of clients. The purpose of the guidance is to work on a new future perspective, in the Netherlands or elsewhere. Responsibility is placed with the woman herself as much as possible and is supported where necessary.

At the start of the supervision, each resident receives a permanent supervisor. Together they map out the individual situation of the resident. We look at, among other things, physical and mental health, the legal situation, the social network, daytime activities, children and upbringing and living skills. Based on this inventory, a personal development plan is drawn up, in which it is agreed who will take which steps. Progress and bottlenecks are discussed in biweekly meetings. Every six months the results of the development plan are evaluated and adjusted if necessary.

The legal counseling of the women is primarily provided by STIL and Refugee Work (ex-ama team). We support this process from Huize Agnes.

Sign Up

There is a great demand for shelter places for undocumented women and children. Huize Agnes has only a limited number of places, which are almost always occupied. It is therefore, unfortunately, not possible to be placed with us directly.

If you are undocumented and need shelter and guidance, it is best to contact the Registration Desk Utrecht. This is a collaboration of the various aid organizations in Utrecht. At the registration desk, they have an overview of the shelters in Utrecht. They can advice you where you could go. It is not possible to be placed on a waiting list directly at Huize Agnes.

Registration Desk Utrecht

Address:	Huis van Vrede, Trumanlaan 70-72, Utrecht

Telephone:	06-187 427 50

E-mail address:	aanmeldloket@tussenvoorziening.nl

Opening hours:	Monday: 10am - 12.30pm
	Tuesday: 1:00 pm - 3:30 pm
	Thursday: 1:00 pm - 3.30pm

For whom?

To be eligible for a place at Huize Agnes you must meet the following requirements:

You are a woman (with or without a child) without a residence permit and you are in a vulnerable situation
there are no other institutions or persons where you could live
you have the chance to get a residence permit
you are bound to the city of Utrecht, for example because you have family or a partner here, or because your children go to school here

Huize Agnes is not the best place for everyone:

our teammembers are present regularly, but not every day. It is therefore important that you are able to live independently
if you are addicted or have psychiatric problems, we cannot offer you the guidance you need
our homes are not suitable for people with physical limitations
because of the safety of our vulnerable women, men and boys over 12 years old cannot live in our houses
we don’t only provide bed, bath and bread, but also guidance. If you do not want guidance, Huize Agnes is not a suitable place for you.