The transition to its third decade of existence was done discreetly in March. The festivities, the Point refuge reserves them for the month of June, and on a date that remains to be defined. The association intends to mark this anniversary with the traditional meal with the guests which will be open to partners this year. Festivities that will not hide the reality of this day care, which has become over the years a key player among the homeless and the most disadvantaged.
Some 21,295 passages in one year
The report, presented by Isabelle Thorel-Reichenbach, the president, during the general assembly, bears witness to this. Last year, 690 people, mostly single men, visited the place, which resulted in 21,295 passages.
Attendance that the president reports on the increase: in 2021, 517 people were welcomed and 15,640 passages recorded. The weekend of April 1 and 2 alone illustrates this situation. Over these two days, “we welcomed 170 people”, underlines Isabelle Thorel-Reichenbach. “Usually, we are between 50 and 70 people on a daily basis”, specifies Frédéric Gontrand, the director, to give an order of comparison.
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The profiles of the welcomed
The people received, with low incomes when they have any, are not all homeless in the strict sense of the term, most, 56%, have the most precarious housing.
“Significant trend”. But what is of particular concern to those in charge of the refuge is the increasingly young profile of the people welcomed. “Without housing, without resources, even with serious psychiatric problems and addiction problems”, describes the president. A complex situation, especially since it is difficult to bring this public towards care or to enroll it in a regular course of care, but also because the care structures are lacking, particularly in psychiatry. “This increase was very marked, particularly at the end of last year,” notes Frédéric Gontrand.
Leaving homes, family breakdown…
Among this public, 161 people are under 25 years old. Several factors explain this “significant” trend: departures from children’s homes “where they are taken care of until they are 18, and then some find themselves released into the wild, with nothing”; family breakdowns, “in general, in families, there are already financial, emotional, material precariousness…” are the main ones.
The post-Covid period has also left traces where migratory routes, among other reasons, also explain this high percentage of young people.
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The current crisis is hardening their situation
The current economic context aggravates this precarious situation. “It had an impact, not in attendance, but in the demand for food greater than it was. People are hungrier. Although we are not a food distributor, people come to us for that. This has been obvious since the first quarter of 2023. We hardly bought any food and, there, biscuits, we buy them all the time…”, points out the director.
Services and activities: The equivalent of a free breakfast (coffee, tea, cakes and other snacks, etc.), administrative assistance (housing, RSA, Pôle emploi, asylum application, etc.), photocopier, computer, newspapers, small luggage storage… “We don’t have a television. It is a real choice so that we can exchange. »
Pancake workshop, outings, badminton, squash, choir, equine (form of equine mediation)…
Welcome : The Point refuge, at 8 boulevard Maréchal-Foch, is open every day, from 8:15 a.m. to noon and from 1:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., except Monday, between 11 a.m. and noon, Wednesday afternoon and holidays. Information at 02.37.91.10.29 or [email protected]
Looking for a new location
The leaders of the Point refuge de Chartres.
After twenty years spent in the premises of Avenue Maréchal-Foch, made available by the town hall of Chartres, the Point refuge must find another reception site. “There is a real estate project in this area. It is imminent, the application for a building permit has been submitted, ”said Isabelle Thorel-Reichenbach, during this general meeting.
As a result, the association is looking for new premises large enough to absorb the increase in its activity and attendance. “The town hall of Chartres is looking for premises for us. We also told him about the different leads we have. It becomes urgent. We are confident even if there is some concern, ”she added.
