What is POCQunity?
POCQunity is an initiative to provide accessible, low-threshold, and free psychosocial care through one-on-one counselling and group care gatherings by and for people from racialised queer communities.
You can read more about the group care gatherings here.
POCQunity is made possible with the support of the municipality of Utrecht.
Who is POCQunity for?
POCQunity is open to anyone who identifies as racialised, ethnicised, or migrantised (as a Dutch or non-Dutch person of colour, migrant, undocumented migrant, asylum seeker, or refugee) and is need of psychosocial support.
Are you in need of support due to mental health, gender diversity and gender dysphoria, family-related issues, problems with the IND, race-, ethnic- or culture-related issues or other socio-cultural conflicts, discrimination, or due to any other reason? We are here for you.
While the care services we provide are primarily based in Utrecht for Utrechters of colour, they are open to anyone from our community throughout the Netherlands!
What will POCQunity offer?
POCQunity offers both one-on-one counselling and monthly group care gatherings, depending on your care needs and what you are most comfortable with.
- The one-on-one counselling is completely free, accessible, low-threshold, and, where necessary, anonymous. The sessions can be online or in person, in both Dutch and English.
- The group care gatherings are currently provided on a monthly basis, as small (no more than 12 people) gatherings rooted in community care, collective support, and bodily embodiment. The gatherings are facilitated in English. If this prevents your access to the gathering, we can help support you to express yourself in the language you are most comfortable with.
Our POCQunity counsellors are specialised psychosocial care providers who are racialised and queer themselves. We aim to provide counselling and group care sessions by racialised queer care providers, for our racialised queer community. By us, for us.
We offer support to those of us who experience multiple forms of exclusion in our daily lives or in the regular mental healthcare system. Our counsellors, through their (lived) experiences and expertise, deeply understand the struggles of racialised queer people through an intersectional approach. We aim to provide a safe(r) space for racialised queer people to get access to help and care, and to be supported, guided, and referred to the resources and pathways they need.
How can I get access to POCQunity services?
If you would like to join a group care gathering, you can read more about and sign up for the next group care gathering here.
If you would like to have a conversation with one of the POCQunity counsellors and see if the one-on-one counselling is something for you or if we could refer you to the support you need, you can reach out to make an appointment via pocqunity@coloredqollective.org or by contacting Eddie directly via their number below during her consultation hours.
Meet our psychosocial care providers
Jiek Porter (he/him)
Available in English and in Dutch.
My name is Jiek and I work as a psychosocial counsellor at Colored Qollective. Having navigated the Dutch mental health system and the search for culturally competent care, I relate to this struggle, especially for those of us living at the intersections of race, gender, migration, queerness and transness. I aim to offer a space of compassionate listening and witnessing, and together with you, navigate the support and the care that you need.
Jaadoo ਨੁਸ਼ Moon (he/him)
Available in English.
My name is Jaadoo and I work as a psychosocial counsellor at Colored Qollective. The support I offer nurtures intersectional, embodied and decolonial care. Importantly, I seek to understand you, in your depth and your needs.
As we collectively work to destroy and reimagine systems never built for us, I welcome queer and trans folx of the global majority seeking support – whether you need help navigating these systems or just a pair of curious, kind, listening ears. You are welcome into a space we co-create, one rooted in mutual transparency and respect.
Eddie Boye (she/her)
Office hours: Wednesdays, 10:00-16:00
Phone/WhatsApp: 0616021907
The office hours are intended for brief inquiries or introductions, after which appointments can be scheduled for further contact. Further appointments are flexible to arrange, and the waiting times are not long.
My name is Eddie, and I work as a psychosocial counsellor at Colored Qollective. I am a transcultural systemic therapist, politicised psychologist, and philosopher. After years of working within the Dutch MHIC (Mental Health Industrial Complex), I am now running an independent practice.
For QT BIPOC, individual healing alone is not enough—we need systemic and structural change. In my work at POCQunity, I aim to support and empower our community in navigating the Dutch healthcare system, and finding the most appropriate care. Additionally, I offer a low-threshold therapeutic space where individuals can access compassionate, listening support when needed.