Rodney van den Hengel

About Rodney van den Hengel

Rodney van den Hengel is a reintegration expert and social community developer. Together with Marco den Dunnen, he started the coffee shop Heilige Boontjes, now located in the old police station at Eendrachtsplein in Rotterdam. Heilige Boontjes Coffee offers a learning-workplace for young people who have made mistakes and are given a second chance here.

Heilige Boontjes actively supports young people with a troubled past. Young people who often have received little education or have had encounters with the justice system. Most people see these young individuals as hopeless, but they see them as promising and prove that everyone can be valuable. Heilige Boontjes offers these young people a learning-work path within the coffee business in Rotterdam. They have transformed the location into a hospitality venue where they also serve coffee to their guests. Enjoying a cup of coffee at Heilige Boontjes automatically contributes to providing more and better opportunities for young people with a troubled past.

In the business world, you often hear the saying: You have to spend money to make money. And that is exactly what my partner and I do. We invest in the youth; we refuse to write them off, label them, or ignore them. By investing in them, we create perspective and social returns.

Rodney’s presentations are pure, sincere, and hopeful. Rodney is living proof that ‘StoryDoing’ is much more powerful than any marketing campaign. His motivation comes straight from his heart, and he lives for the company and the people involved in it.

As a former inmate, he has built a company that is solid from A to Z. And without compromises. From the proper payment and treatment of plantation workers in Africa to the reintegration and training of vulnerable young people in Rotterdam. From his personal story to the name, products, merchandise, and design of his company.