Close to people | Stories from Bethel
She has no time for boredom
The word "busy" is an understatement when describing Silke Wunsch. If there were 26 hours in a day, the longstanding Bethel.regional employee would like to spend two more hours working with clients in the garden, renovating her home or starting another project. But as open as she is to new activities, both professionally and privately, the qualified pedagogue is fixed to her sphere of activity. "I'm just a Dortmund kid," says Silke Wunsch, whose love for her hometown even gets under her skin thanks to a tattoo on her left upper arm.
As a teenager, however, she did not yet feel this connection to the largest city in the Ruhr region. Like so many young people, she dreamed of moving away one day. "When you grow up here, you think: Maybe it's nice somewhere else too." Silke Wunsch already knew where she wanted to go professionally at school: "I always wanted to work with mentally ill people, but at 18 I still had too much respect for that." After a diversion as a decorator, Silke Wunsch decided to study special education and rehabilitation. For cost reasons, she continued to live in Nordstadt and learnt to love the district: "As a student, it's cool to live where life is happening," recalls the 52-year-old.
Through voluntary work in psychiatry and the good network that the outgoing specialist in basic services had built up over the years, she was offered a job at Bethel's Oberfeld home. After more than 20 years of working with a wide variety of people, there is no sign of wear and tear. Silke Wunsch is still passionate about working with clients in all their diversity.
"My work never gets boring, partly because I'm always on the lookout for customised solutions."
She was also looking for this for a client who was very reserved in conversations. Researching a practical project in conjunction with her personal passion for sustainability led her to the topic of gardening. "He really blossomed when growing vegetables. At the end of the gardening session, unlike during a conversation, he could see the results. My former line manager has called it 'our relationship bed' ever since."
Silke Wunsch enjoys gardening so much that she not only manages the inclusive garden project "A handful of soil" for the IGA 2027, but now also cultivates three gardens privately: "What's good for the clients can't be bad for me either," remarks the cheerful nature.
But even after work and gardening, Silke Wunsch is far from finished, as she and her partner bought an old colliery house in 2007, where she often works late into the evening. With her skilled craftsmanship, she renovates a lot of things herself using recycled and alternative building materials. And if she can't do something, she learns it from craftsmen or YouTube videos. In 2023, for example, she built a solar system herself. "I just enjoy familiarising myself with new things all the time. It keeps my mind fit."
Text: Simon Steinberg | Image: Matthias Cremer
This story simply told
Silke Wunsch enjoys being active and loves her home city of Dortmund. She has been working with mentally ill people for over 20 years. She enjoys tending the garden with her clients. In her free time, she looks after her own three gardens and renovates her house.
