Diversity in buddy offerings

More buddy projects
In September 2004, De Regenboog launched the Study buddies project for young people with mental health problems who are studying. In the fall of 2006 the sports buddy project and the See You youth buddy project were added. In 2007 a start was made with buddy groups for migrants. In 2010, the Network Coach project was launched. Volunteers help people with mental health problems to expand or restore their social network.

Neighborhood restaurants and group activities
New in 2004 was the Summer Buddy Café at the Blue Tea House in Vondel Park, expanded in 2006 to include the monthly Winter Café at the then Café de Ponteneur (now Bar Botanique). A similar initiative is Eating Together Cooking Together, in which participants in a number of neighborhood centers provide weekly meals under the supervision of professional cooks. After that, more and more activities were added. Whether or not together with other organizations, there are occasional, weekly or monthly group meetings, indoors or outdoors, in café and community center, and also sports.

A buddy for food bank clients
A buddy project for a very new target group is VONK, for people who use the Food Bank. In 2006, their number in Amsterdam skyrocketed from nine hundred to over fifteen hundred within six months. Besides social and emotional support, the buddies also offer practical help, for example by going along to appointments with authorities. New buddies receive training at the Volunteer Academy. At the time, Niek de Boer was president of the Voedselbank Amsterdam and creator of VONK: "Our society is very bureaucratic. Many food bank clients lack the knowledge and self-confidence to stand up for themselves and find their way through the maze of rules and institutions. A food package helps them for a while, but you would like to do something more to help them structurally get back on track. This is how the idea was born for VONK, which stands for "Food Bank Clients Discover New Strength. The idea is to pair clients who want and need it with a volunteer who helps them build social resilience. A buddy who can provide some extra support at crucial points. After all, a person does not live on bread alone." By the way, the name VONK no longer exists, but the offer is still there.

Informal Care as an umbrella
In 2008 foundation Amsterdamse Vriendendiensten and foundation De Regenboog AMOC (as the organization was briefly called) merged to form foundation De Regenboog Groep. The buddy projects for people with psychiatric symptoms, the VONK buddies, and the buddy projects for the homeless and drug and alcohol addicts, have since formed the Informal Care Department. This is housed in the Friends Services building on Oranje Nassaulaan. In the meantime, participation has become increasingly serious. Buddies and participants are now also used for education, presentations, debates, interviews, and especially in the recruitment of volunteers.