Homeless people: for € 20 per month you offer them shelter

Does the idea that people in France still live on the streets make you indignant? Do you feel helpless walking past it every day and the idea of ​​not being able to do anything is unbearable for you? However, there are several solutions. Emergency housing, residences, hostels, pensions, and… for several years now, the policy of “housing first”† This is the solution proposed by the association roof for me to accommodate them, thanks to the purchase of apartments. Discovery.

Every winter the problem of sheltering people in poor or homeless situations resurfaces. In France, the unconditional reception of the homeless is nevertheless a legally established principle. So, according to Article L 345-2-2 of the Code of Social Action and Families, “Any homeless person who is in a situation of medical, psychological or social need has access to an emergency shelter system at all times.”

In fact, the Samu Social and the emergency number 115 are most often overwhelmed by the number of requests. When they call on the social services and depending on their situation, their degree of autonomy and emergencies, people in very precarious situations can be taken care of in:

  • An emergency shelter (CHU), or exceptionally a hotel, if the first one is full. This is an immediate and short-term solution for people who are homeless or have to leave their homes in an emergency. It provides basic necessities such as shelter, food and hygiene for a few nights.
  • A center for housing and social reintegration (CHRS). It offers housing to people (isolated or with family) who have serious economic and/or social difficulties, as well as individualized socio-educational support (housing, employment, training, health, etc.). But the duration of the stay is limited to 6 months extendable.
  • A hotel residence with a social calling (stainless steel). We are talking about commercial housing, consisting of self-contained, equipped and furnished accommodation for rent for daily, weekly or monthly occupancy. An alternative to hotels, it is geared more towards working people and young learners.
  • A guest house or a reception house. These are individual homes linked to collective spaces in which people benefit from a safe environment. They are intended to house people whose social, psychological or even psychiatric situation makes it impossible to access ordinary housing.
  • Supported accommodation. Social residence or hostel, we are talking about privately furnished accommodation, associated with collective spaces. They allow people in difficulties temporary shelter and support.

Unfortunately, all these solutions, often temporary, do not permanently solve the problem. Every day many people still sleep on the street. And for good reason, “It’s not because we build houses that we take people off the street”, alert Denis Castin, founder and general representative of the Toit à Moi association, which is working on a more global solution.

For example, since the 1990s, a new approach to the fight against homelessness has been tried in several countries around the world: the policy of “housing first”† Literally “housing first”† We already told you about it in 2017, using the example of Finland.


Photo: © Corentin Fohlen / Divergence for Toit à Moi

Housing: Toit à Moi .’s long-term solution

Imagined by a Canadian psychologist in New York, the strategy of “housing first” consists of take someone off the street by handing them the keys to an apartment, without conditions† The goal: to free homeless people from the urgency of finding housing to support them in developing a new life plan.

In France, this is the method that the Toit à Moi association has been using for 15 years to help people in very precarious situations. His credo? Housing as a springboard to reintegration.

By buying apartments to house the homeless or homeless, Toit à Moi gives them the opportunity to change your life permanently† Freed from the urgency of finding shelter, guided people find solutions quietly about their problems and devote themselves completely to working out a new life plan (work, education, etc.).

Of course this would not be possible without the sponsors of the association. Thanks to them, Toit à Moi has already acquired 40 apartments and guided many people on their way to a new life.


Photo: Shutterstock

How it works ?

For Toit à Moi, housing is essential for stabilization people in very precarious situations. Thanks to donations from the association’s sponsors, Toit à Moi can:

  • Buy apartments
  • Renovate and furnish so that they provide decent living conditions
  • Make them available to those in needin exchange for a contribution adapted to their means (€ 1 per day for a beneficiary of the RSA).

Once housed, each person benefits from:ongoing and personalized support which helps him rebuild himself, regain confidence and restore. When she feels ready, she exits the Toit à Moi system and leaves her apartment. This person can then welcome someone else and help with his reconstruction.

In practice, if 120 people donate € 20/month, the association can repay the loan for an apartment of € 120,000.

And if you contribute to this beautiful human adventure by providing housing to homeless † To go from indignation to action, go to the website of the association Toit à Moi!

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