Lyon. Laetitia is homeless with her baby: “I am ready to give everything for accommodation”

Laetitia Boujard is at the end of her rope. With drawn features, tears in her eyes, she pushes open the doors of the editorialnews Lyon. Accompanied by her partner, the mother pushes a stroller. We can barely see Sira’s little face, her daughter, only one month oldwell bundled up to protect themselves from the cold.

Laetitia lives with her daughter in emergency accommodation provided by the Rhône prefecture. The young forty-year-old found herself on the street after being evicted from the Sans-Souci squat while she was pregnant last June.

This December, she is desperately looking for accommodation in the metropolis of Lyon.. Tired, she breaks down : “I’m a very tough person, but I can’t stand this situation at all anymore. » She tells us about the descent into hell this Sunday, December 10.

Arriving in Lyon, she was on a permanent contract

In September 2022, she decided to come to Lyon from Orléans to join Mohamed. A migrant from Guinea-Conakry, he has no papers and lives in the Sans-Souci squat.

“When I arrived, I had a permanent contract as a care assistant specializing in helping people with disabilities,” she explains. At that moment, she told herself that she would quickly find accommodation, that life in the squat would be temporary… it was not the case.

Evicted from a squat, she finds herself on the street pregnant

Expelled from their makeshift home, the couple found themselves on the street. “We were supported for a few nights in a youth hostel by the right to housing. I was told: ‘You absolutely have to go see the Metropolis’, except that it will only find a solution for you from six months of pregnancy and I was at five…”

At 41, Laetitia is experiencing a risky pregnancy. After providing a certificate from the midwife, she is sheltered in the hotel. “My partner remains on the street. He is not taken care of,” she regrets.

After giving birth, she is only housed for an additional 45 days.

They refused to help me any longer because I had declared that I was in a relationship. Isolated people are taken care of until the child is three years old. Social workers even advised me to declare myself a single mother, but that is out of the question.

Shelter in an emergency accommodation center

Finally, the mother was sheltered in an emergency accommodation center (CHRS) thanks to 115. The prefecture service has a CHRS at Parc du Chêne, in the former premises of Bison futé. Here again, she finds herself alone with her childhis spouse being in an irregular situation.

“We are in the process of preparing the file to request a procedure,” says the couple. At the Foyer des Chênes, “the conditions are not great…” Laetitia describes a dilapidated environment with dazzling neon lights that come on in the middle of the night.

“It’s super cold… the little one isn’t very well at all”

There are three women, each with a child, sleeping in the same room. A large space equipped with a small electric heaterfar from sufficient in these winter temperatures.

It’s super cold. For two days, my daughter had diarrhea and there is a baby who coughs really a lot… I barely sleep. I am very tired. Dad sleeps outside… he’s not with us. The little one is not very well at all. As soon as her dad leaves, she will cry all night. She is followed by a pediatrician.

1,100 euros per month, she is ready to give everything for accommodation

Laetitia Boujard is ready to do anything to obtain accommodation. “I am not without income,” she says. After her conventional termination, she receives 1,100 euros per month. “Even if I have to give everything I have to be accommodated and get rice at Resto du coeur, no problem. As long as we are safe ! »

She claims to have the means to pay rent. What’s more, with a child, she will be entitled to housing assistance. “I’m even ready to sublet,” she finally said.

From now on, she is waiting for a sign from the Maison de la Veille Sociale du Rhône to be directed towards social housing. Strong in character, she struggles not to cry. “It’s really complicated,” she concluded, delicately hugging her daughter.

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