I have known Werner Wassermann for many years. His tall figure, his cheerful smile, his sense of humor and his kind-hearted nature have been the order of the day in Gundeli for many years. We kept bumping into each other, at this festival, that event or simply on the street, as "Momo" is practically around the corner from us. And he is still connected to the Gundeli, especially with a voluntary position in an institution that has been quietly and unobtrusively doing good deeds on Winkelriedplatz for a very long time: the Gundeli meeting point.
Dear Werni, you managed the Momo retirement and nursing home on Bruderholzstrasse for many years. Is there an outstanding experience that you remember from your many years of service?
I got to meet a lot of special people and had many experiences that I will never forget. But one highlight was when we lifted a 92-year-old wheelchair-dependent lady onto the back of my microlight and I flew an hour-long tour over Alsace with her. The lady told me that as a 16-year-old girl she was allowed to take her first sightseeing flight at the first Basel airfield "Sternenfeld" and that she climbed the Matterhorn as a 32-year-old woman.
When did you retire?
I retired in February 2016 at the age of 67.
Are you enjoying your pension?
Yes, I'm enjoying the time. My current wife opened her medical massage practice a year before I retired. When I retired, the practice took off and my wife can keep her many appointments because I can be there for our son, who is now 9 years old, while also fulfilling my role as a househusband.
The Gundeli hasn't let go of you yet: You are involved in volunteer work. To be precise, at the Treffpunkt Gundeli and - I think newly - as president? What exactly does Treffpunkt Gundeli offer?
Our meeting place offers poor and lonely people in our society a warm room, the opportunity to eat healthy and cheap food five days a week, play games, read magazines (homeless people are also allowed to shower here), maintain contact with other people as well as direct support (social work) and mediation with doctors or authorities, help with letters and tax returns and much more.
Why are you getting involved? Why did you get yourself elected president?
Our dearest and best friend, Pia Weisskopf, was the first employed job manager at the former "meeting point for the jobless" until her early death. Although, in addition to my other honorary posts (Momo support association, Bebbi-Bängg), I had to attend to my duties as a househusband and help with the
Momo was no longer looking for a part-time job, my friendship with Pia "obliged" me to work for "her" meeting place and "her" men.
What percentage is your commitment?
At the moment, that's about 15%, or around 6.5 hours a week
Can you describe your clients? Specifically: are they all long-term unemployed? Women? Men? Young? Old?
IV and old-age pensioners, people unable to work, people in a difficult stage of life,
2/3 homeless or otherwise completely impoverished people, 1/3 lonely people. 85% men and 15% women.
You also offer work assignments. What kind of work assignments do you usually offer?
Work assignments mostly short assignments actually only together with the job store. Our people are no longer employable for "normal" work. For this reason, we also renamed our meeting point for jobless people Treffpunkt Gundeli a year ago
Do you know Seniors@Work?
I know Seniors@Work; when our cook fell ill during the first wave of the coronavirus, we even considered using this platform to find a temporary cook. The fact that the head of the department also caught the virus meant that we had to close our meeting place temporarily - so the request was no longer necessary.
Could it be that the Seniors@Work service would help a client from the meeting point?
Of the current visitors to the Treffpunkt, I don't think there are any people to be referred. Perhaps this will change in the near future (especially due to the economic consequences of the coronavirus crisis) - in any case, we at Treffpunkt will keep this offer in mind.
Dear Werni, thank you very much for your great commitment and not least for this interview. You are doing good. It's time we talked about it!
Stay healthy!
