Mission The homeless and poorly housed
Number of homeless in France : 86,500 people (source Insee, institute for economic and statistical information)
Number of poorly housed : 3.2 million (source Abbé Pierre Foundation)
Most common conditions : dermatology problems, trauma, psychiatric, problems, psychological suffering, ENT and respiratory infections
Number of projects : 16
Number of volunteers : 182
Contacts with homeless : approx. 10,000, 17.8% of people seen in CASOs are homeless, and 43.4% live in insecure housing
Characteristics of homeless seen in CASOs : 26% are women, 60% are under 35, 8.6% are minors, 75% do not have the right to sickness cover
Sources of funding
Local health authorities, town councils, department councils, etc.
Main partners : Abbé Pierre Foundation, Secours catholique, Emmaüs, Red Cross, Restos du coeur, Samu social, DAL, local charities (Péniche, Amis de la rue, le Fournil, GAF, Enfants du monde, Droit de l'homme EMDH), etc
Photo : Bruno FERT
Housing is a fundamental right; however, many people do not have access to it. Today in France there are approximately 100,000 homeless people and more than 3 million are in sub-standard housing. The fires in dilapidated Paris hotels (nearly 50 dead, most of them children) and the suburban riots have put the housing crisis back at the heart of public debate. Nearly 61% of patients seen by Mission France are homeless or live in sub-standard housing.
Housing, a fundamental right
Since 1993
Activities:
Faced with the problems of people living in the street who are too marginalised and weakened to make use of the public structures, MdM has developed mobile actions.
There are two objectives:
• to inform people of their rights to access to healthcare, and refer and accompany them to public structures;
• to see those without sickness cover in healthcare centres until they regain their rights.
Every year, MdM takes action, in winter and in summer, requesting accommodation and longterm housing. From its experience on the ground, MdM is continuing to bear witness to the harmful consequences to health of the lack of housing as well as of poor housing. The discontinuity and unsuitability of accommodation worsen the health of the neediest. Teams in France work throughout the year watching the situation in the context of patrols, medical consultations in accommodation centres and nursing beds, etc. In 2005, DGAS (the Social Work Directorate General) asked MdM to take part in a thinktank and to draw up specifications formalising “healthcare hostel beds” and this led to a circular on how these beds should operate and be funded. In December 2005, the Paris homelessness project was heavily involved in distributing “igloo” tents to the homeless and to alerting the authorities to the urgent need to overhaul their accommodation provisions.
Types of work :
> Medical and welfare consultations, patrols: Le Havre, Marseille, Metz, Nice, Paris, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Valenciennes.
> Medical consultations for the homeless in “healthcare hostel beds”: Bordeaux, Grenoble, Lyon, Strasbourg, Toulouse.
> Ecoute santé (Health Listening post): Angoulême.
> Consultations with other associations (Restos du coeur, Salvation Army, Abbé Pierre centres, Secours catholique, Aides,
Point écoute santé jeunes…): Grenoble, Le Havre, Lyon, Metz, Nancy, Nantes, Reunion, Toulouse, Valenciennes.
> Consultations in emergency accommodation centres: Lyon, Metz, Nice, Toulouse.
> Welfare and health work in squats: Bordeaux, Paris.
Outlook:
Continue field work amongst the most needy people (street work, welfare and medical treatment, medical consultations and nursing care in accommodation hostels, work in partnership with health and accommodation structures, involvement in the “cold weather plan”) and political action (bearing witness, lobbying institutions to set up long-term accommodation structures suitable to the needs of the homeless).