Who are the Delfshaven Neighbourhood Cooperative ?

The cooperative consists of active residents who work together to support local initiatives and solve neighborhood problems. They also work on neighborhood development with partners such as the municipality and businesses.

**Goal of Delfthaven :**To increase incomes, security, and a sense of community among residents.

Reason for visit : Because the CLT H-Buurt has similar goals, we talked with the Delfshaven Cooperative members to learn about their community building structure and activities.

What are some of the things they do?

The cooperative aims to bring organizations and residents in the neighborhood together to solve problems.

Examples :

• They organize women’s groups that come together to discuss local problems and collaborate to solve them.
• When a police officer in the neighborhood said something racist, the women confronted the police department about the issue to ensure they would no longer tolerate racist remarks from their officers.

The cooperative also provides resources to those who need it. They provide spaces for homeless residents in the neighborhood to stay when they don’t have shelter. They also provide food to eat for people who cannot afford to pay for groceries.

Strategies of the cooperative

To serve as a connector among many organizations, instead of starting their own programs or initiatives. This allows them to most effectively build a strong network and support what is already there. They also connect government staff members to community initiatives to ensure the government can more effectively support people.

Main take-away from the excursion :

The CLT can be stronger by connecting initiatives that already exist, helping residents realize their goals, in the neighborhood, and solving collective neighborhood problems. We are already doing this through the ABCD training program, but could increase outreach to residents so they know that this is one of our main goals.