What is the Financial Resilience Together project about?
With Financial Resilience Together, SKIN-Rotterdam helps international churches to provide sustainable support to families with financial and material concerns. We strengthen what already exists in the communities and work together to develop an approach based on trust, proximity, and the human dimension.

Why this approach?
Many families turn to their church when they encounter financial difficulties. Volunteers are eager to help, but they encounter questions and limitations. In 2026, we will equip key volunteers to not only offer practical help, but also to engage in conversations about money, shame, and future prospects. In this way, they will help people become stronger and more self-reliant, step by step.

What we will do in 2026:
We do this through training courses, information meetings, working group meetings, and practical coaching. We continue to support volunteers, contribute ideas about specific requests for help, and connect churches to appropriate formal and informal support, such as neighborhood teams and specialized organizations. SKIN-Rotterdam is not the expert itself, but acts as a link in a broad network of knowledge and assistance.

In 2026, we will be working with churches that already have experience in poverty reduction and with new communities that want to join. We encourage mutual exchange, organize information meetings, and support initiatives such as savings groups. By learning from practical experiences together, we gain a better understanding of what families need and how we can tailor our assistance to their situation.

This makes poverty a topic of discussion within communities and strengthens volunteers in their role. Financial resilience together contributes to greater self-esteem, initiative, and financial resilience: for families and for the churches that support them.

How we do this:

  • Training for key volunteers
  • Working group meetings
  • Information meetings for groups
  • Coaching and practical support
  • Setting up and supervising savings groups
  • Connection with neighborhood teams and the Financial Assistance Team
  • Learning from shared case studies

→ See our activities page for an overview of our current meetings!

Want to know more?
For more information, please contact Helma Hurkens, helma@skinrotterdam.nl.

The project is funded by the Sint Laurensfonds, PIN-KNR, DCI, Kansfonds and Cordaid.