It is not always a matter of course that neighbors help each other. But this is the prerequisite for a good life together in a community. Beatrice Binder-Wüstiner is a deaconess as well as the founder and managing director of the neighborhood help center in Kreis 5 in Zurich. She brings people together: committed women and men and neighbors seeking help. With her large network, she promotes and supports contacts and coordinates neighborly help in the neighborhood, complementing the existing social facilities and institutions.
I can't help all the people myself, but I organize that they get help. And that has a lot to do with networking and building relationships.
Today we are talking about the topic of neighborhood assistance. How did the project start in Kreis 5 in Zurich?
When I started my work as a deacon for church social work in District 5, I was able to start on the green playing field. And then various people from the neighborhood approached me and said that we needed neighborhood help in our neighborhood. Neighborhood Watch is something that happens in the context of Caring Community. It's about promoting togetherness and, in that sense, also the quality of life in the neighborhood.
Kreis 5 is considered one of the hippest districts in Zurich with a lot of young people. And at the beginning of the project, there were voices that said this project wouldn't work exactly there. But you managed to do it. What was the secret of success?
District 5 has made several attempts to establish neighborhood assistance. When I started, neighborhood assistance was tied to an institution, to the church. The secret of Neighborhood Watch is that it is non-denominational, open to everyone, regardless of education level or wage level. Good networking has certainly also contributed to its success. As a deacon, I do neighborhood work, which means that I know a lot of other players in the social sphere. And the moment everyone realized that there was someone who cared, they turned to me when someone needed help. And: Circle 5 is a left-wing circle that has an awareness of social issues, of supporting each other.
Completely unexpected relationships develop. And you really touch each other on a human level.
Completely unexpected relationships develop. And you really touch each other on a human level.
Matching works for you in a very professional way, similar to the Red Cross.
With formalized help or neighborhood assistance, on the one hand you recruit volunteers and ask how they would like to get involved, where their interests lie, what gives them fun and pleasure. On the other hand, people come forward with very specific needs: from visits to accompaniment to talks, people who feel lonely, but also people who need computer help or tutoring for children of poverty-stricken families, especially also for families and single parents with a migration background.
During matching, forms are filled out and fed into the program. In addition, we get to know all volunteers personally to get a first impression and to avoid abuse.
After all, it is 100% voluntary. One wonders: What motivates people in our modern, stressful times to help others?
Voluntary means it is not compensated work. There is no money that we pay out. But in Neighborhood Watch, we naturally encourage exchanges between those who volunteer so they can share their experiences. The important thing is: the compensation that volunteers receive is not monetary. The motivation to help in people comes from the satisfaction - from what they do. They realize that this is an important contribution to the individual, that they mean something to them.
How does neighborhood outreach differentiate itself from professional services?
Important for us is the support of children with a migration background through tutoring, to promote educational opportunities. These are people who do not have the financial circumstances to finance private tutoring for their children. But we must not compete with professional help. That is, we do not compete with moving companies or cleaning help or nursing institutions. Nor do we offer tax advice. And we watch closely to make sure our volunteers are not taken advantage of. That is very important.
In your work, I'm sure there are also many touching moments....
A woman with an immigrant background with two small children was able to get off welfare, found work in the restaurant business. But the problem was childcare during early and late working hours. We found someone who took her children to daycare early in the morning. And another woman picked up the children at the end of the working day or even looked after them for a whole weekend. Finally, at Christmas, she even invited the whole family to join her own family circle. A friendship has developed. And the children got a new godmother.
The volunteers are more and more interested in networking directly with each other and in personal exchange. This again has to do with quality of life in the neighborhood.
The volunteers are more and more interested in networking directly with each other and in personal exchange. This again has to do with quality of life in the neighborhood.
Beatrice Binder-Wüstiner is a deacon and executive director of the Neighborhood Help in District 5. She is out and about in various places with people for a piece of their life's journey. She organizes, establishes contacts and relationships in the neighborhood, conducts events, visits people and helps alleviate need. Always with an open ear for people from different cultures and social milieus.
