"My life is so much better now"

About 15 years ago, Nathalia came to the Netherlands from Hungary. She became a victim of human trafficking and ended up forced into prostitution here. After years of abuse, the police managed to get her out. She ended up in a shelter in Leeuwarden.

After a while, it was time to stand on her own two feet again. She found a rental flat on Schieringerweg. However, living independently was difficult for her. She often got into arguments with people around her and agencies like the municipality. Partly because of the language barrier, Nathalia found it difficult to understand people and they did not understand her.

Eventually, Nathalia got in touch with an Amaryllis community worker who noticed a lot going on. He enlisted the help of Amaryllis' EPA team. EPA stands for "severe psychiatric disorders" and is made up of social workers working with the mental health services. Letty, one of the social workers, explains: "The ggz helps people with mental health problems. We actually look at the environment. Because if you only tackle the mental health problem, but keep triggering the environment, you stay in a vicious circle. That's why we work together."

Letty went to Nathalia's house to offer help. It involves so-called mediation care. This means that Nathalia receives help without having asked for it. The first meetings are difficult. "At the first meeting, we look at what is going on," Letty explains. "Nathalia was often angry and sad. When she was angry, she started shouting. Often in Hungarian. I didn't understand any of that. We couldn't have a conversation like that." Letty decided to visit regularly to build trust. "I visited weekly at set times. The first thing I did was to arrange a new administrator. After all, financial problems cause a lot of stress."

Next, Letty arranges psychiatric help for Nathalia. She is admitted to a mental health institution for a while. Psychological tests show that Nathalia has a low IQ and needs medication to calm her mind. "When I was in group three of primary school, I already had to work," she says. Says she. "So I was never able to learn much in school. Now that I have more peace in my head, I can finally work on learning the Dutch language better."

Nathalia now lives in an assisted living location of MindUp. "I get help with shopping and in the kitchen. And someone is available 24 hours a day if I need help. My life is much better now. I had nothing to eat, only water to drink. Now I feel like a king. I am very happy with the help I got."

Now that she has everything back on track, Nathalia is looking for suitable day care with Letty. A nice step towards a more independent existence.