A Saturday afternoon with Serve the City Amsterdam at Inloophuis Oud-West
On a grey Saturday afternoon in Amsterdam West, something quietly extraordinary happened. A small group of volunteers from different countries, different backgrounds, and different walks of life gathered in a modest building on a street most people walk past without a second glance. Their mission: make pancakes.
But what unfolded over those few hours was far more nourishing than anything that came out of the kitchen.
A living room in the heart of the city
Inloophuis Oud-West, part of De Regenboog Groep, is not what most people picture when they think of a support centre. There are no clinical corridors or waiting room chairs. Instead, the space feels like a living room, warm, unhurried, and genuinely welcoming.
People experiencing homelessness can come here during the day to drink a coffee, take a shower, sit and talk, or simply spend time in a safe place.
This Saturday, Serve the City Amsterdam brought something extra to that living room: a pancake station, six eager volunteers, and a whole lot of warmth.
The volunteers of the day
One of the most striking things about the afternoon was how international the group of volunteers was. On a random Saturday, people from Estonia, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands, and France had all ended up in the same kitchen, flipping pancakes and swapping stories.
Eva: Think less, do more
Eva, 23, arrived from Estonia and has been living in Amsterdam for four years while studying economics. Her personal motto, think less, do more, says everything you need to know about her approach to life. Before this, she volunteered in animal shelters, drawn by a love of cats and a desire to give them care and attention. For Eva, volunteering is about stepping outside your everyday circle and meeting people you would never normally encounter. She was there that afternoon to support a friend who organised the event, serving pancakes with a smile that never faded.
Melissa: Finding perspective through others
Melissa, 34, is a sports photographer and a true Amsterdammer who discovered Serve the City during a difficult period in her own life. Rather than staying home, she chose to go out and do something meaningful. Her previous experience volunteering with people with disabilities left a lasting impression. She found that many of the people she met had faced serious challenges, yet radiated positivity and resilience. Seeing that helped her put her own struggles into perspective. That spirit of raw, honest humanity is also what draws her to photography, and exactly what she brought her camera to capture that afternoon.
Uma: Inspired from the start
Uma, 22 and studying economics, came from London with a long history of volunteering behind her: shelters, buddy programmes, community initiatives. Her biggest inspiration? Her mother, who volunteered regularly throughout Uma’s childhood. That Saturday was actually Uma’s first time organising a Serve the City event. She made sure everyone arrived, that there were enough ingredients for dozens of pancakes, and that the afternoon ran smoothly. Her calm, capable presence held the whole thing together.
Kelly and Dion: The best first date in Amsterdam
Then there were Kelly and Dion, and their story might just be the most charming thing to come out of the afternoon. Kelly is from the United States, Dion from the Netherlands. And this volunteering event was their very first date.
Instead of dinner or drinks, Dion suggested they spend their first afternoon together helping others. In the kitchen, they were a force. Over two hours, they produced more than 30 pancakes, laughing, moving in sync, completely at ease. Watching them work together while making something meaningful for someone else made one thing very clear: this is actually a beautiful way to begin getting to know someone.
Ananya: 16 Years old and already changing the world
The youngest volunteer of the day was Ananya, just 16, originally from California and now studying at an international school in Amsterdam. Despite her age, she is already deeply engaged in volunteering, spending time with people with dementia, supporting Ukrainian refugees, taking part in community initiatives. Inspired by her school’s culture of service, she went a step further and created her own volunteering club so that other students could organise activities together. Her presence was a reminder that the instinct to help others doesn’t require years of experience, just the willingness to show up.
What homelessness really looks like
Aisha has worked at Inloophuis Oud-West for many years, and her love for the place and the people in it is immediately visible.
She shared something important: many people carry a fixed image of what homelessness looks like, and of who it happens to. But the reality is far more complex. The people she meets have ended up in difficult circumstances through divorce, job loss, mental health struggles, addiction, or simply a series of events that spiralled in the wrong direction. Many were once well educated, professionally successful, and living stable lives.
Her message was simple and worth sitting with: life can change quickly. This could happen to anyone.
She also explained that women experiencing homelessness often find temporary solutions more discreetly, couch-surfing, brief stays, which makes them less visible in communal spaces like this one. It is a reminder that the people we don’t see can be just as much in need of support.
More than a meal
Beyond the pancakes and the coffee, Inloophuis Oud-West offers something deeper: the chance to feel useful. Visitors can help collect rubbish in the neighbourhood, sell newspapers, or take part in small community tasks. These activities offer modest income, but more importantly, they offer a sense of purpose and belonging.
When someone has lost nearly everything, even the smallest opportunity to contribute, to feel that they matter, that their presence makes a difference, can mean the world.
The simplest things
The building at Inloophuis Oud-West sits quietly in Amsterdam West, easy to pass without noticing. But inside, on a Saturday afternoon, strangers became a small community. People from different countries and different stories gathered around a stove, made something warm, and shared it with people who needed it.
That is the quiet magic of volunteering. You give a little bit of your time. You meet people you would never otherwise meet. You leave with a completely different perspective, and perhaps with the realisation that the distance between us and others is much smaller than we think.
Sometimes the simplest actions, a warm room, a conversation, a pancake, carry more weight than we realise.
Want to be part of the next activity? Serve the City Amsterdam runs regular volunteering events across the city. Follow us to find out when and where the next one is, and come join us.
