the essentials More and more families need help from Secours Populaire de Colomiers. The association can rely on the unfailing commitment of its volunteers, although it is constantly looking for donations.
Since the beginning of the summer, the Prefecture of Haute-Garonne has ordered the eviction of several hundred families who until then were staying in hotel apartments in the Toulouse region. In Colomiers, around ten households were affected by this decision. Secours Populaire helped them, as explained in our columns on July 22. “Humanly, it’s complicated. We face families with children, whom we can only help by paying for hotel nights, but our budget is not huge”, testifies Benjamin Blanc, secretary general of the Colomiers committee.
€2.70 of remainder to live per head
These cases are in addition to the many other families who have called on the association since the beginning of the calendar year. Between January and August 2023, the Secours Populaire de Colomiers identified 1,400 families, a number that is constantly increasing. This development is largely explained by the increase in the cost of living. “Since the Covid, we have seen a 20 to 30% increase in people helped,” says Benjamin Blanc.
Over the past eight months, volunteers from the Secours Populaire de Colomiers have calculated the living expenses of people helped by the association. By removing the fixed household charges, there would remain, each day and per person, €2.70 to live on.
Very active volunteers
To set up the aid, the Colomiers branch can count on 90 volunteers, a staff that is constantly increasing. “At the time of the Covid, we were one of the only associations still open. There was a real surge of solidarity”, notes Benjamin Blanc. “People realized that we weren’t just giving food and clothes,” he adds. This year, the association has, for example, offered outings to the Théâtre des Grands Enfants in Cugnaux, to the Parc de la Demi-Lune in Lannemezan and even to AnimaParc. Beyond that, the Secours Populaire organizes meal concerts, lotteries and clearance sales to raise funds. In total, over the year 2022, 45,000 volunteer hours were counted. “This represents 25 full-time jobs”, specifies the general secretary of the association.
To help the Secours Populaire, the most effective way is to make donations on the association’s website.
Gabriel Garrouste
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