Since the fire in their home in Villejuif a little over a year ago, the Mellouki family has lived in a hotel, in a 10 m2 room. Like a third of the residents of Ile-de-France, the couple and their 4-year-old daughter Sonia suffer from poor housing. These are the words of a mother who feels abandoned by the public authorities.
On the occasion of the publication of the 2022 report on housing poverty in the Île-de-France of the Abbé Pierre FoundationAnnie Mellouki tells us about her daily life and her struggle to find decent housing.
“On September 5, 2021, the small pavilion in which I lived with my husband and my 3-year-old daughter was destroyed by a fire. That day we were transferred from the Villejuif City Hall to a Hotel Appart ‘City, a 10 m2 room. . We were told that we would stay there temporarily, waiting to be transferred to social housing. “
“I have a four-year-old daughter. She sleeps in a cot attached to our bed. She plays in the corridors of the hotel, rides a moped, rides a bicycle. I try to make room for her as much as possible, but everything is piled up in boxes. To eat, I have just a microwave and a hot plate that have been integrated into the hotel room. My husband and daughter eat on the desk and I eat on the bed. “
The precariousness, I live it daily
“I experience precariousness on a daily basis. I don’t have a freezer. Sometimes I see many offers, promotions in supermarkets, but I can’t buy because I can’t keep food. I shop for each other every day, yogurt for my daughter and I do the laundry. in the laundry. This is how we live, how we survive. “
“For the room we have been paying the rent of 1102 euros for a year. It has just been increased by 200 euros. We have no help from the APL. We cannot touch it, because the law requires 9 m² per inhabitant to benefit from it. Three of us, we would need it. of an accommodation of 27 square meters. Exceptionally, the CAF, Family Checks Fund, granted us an aid of € 200 in derogation. When we paid the rent with the net salary of € 1300 of my husband who works as a butcher in a small business , we don’t have much to live “.
“With real estate agencies it is impossible to rent something, because for a rent of € 500 you have to earn three to four times the amount. And there, from 1 September, the rent of the hotel was increased by € 200, it increased for € 1312 I warned the owner of the hotel that I will not be able to pay this surcharge.
I was told we weren’t in an emergency
“We did everything. We contacted the town hall, the prefect of Val-de-Marne, the Dalo … (The DALO: Dright to Opposable Housing which allows people who are poorly hosted to be recognized as a priority for affirming themselves their right to housing or housing ed) In vain. I went to the town hall again to explain my situation to them and we still don’t have anything. The only person who listens to me, who helps and guides me in my research, is the Abbe Pierre Foundation “.
“Regarding the Dalo, I was told that we weren’t in an emergency situation, so I went to the Melun Administrative Court and we are still waiting. Our file has not gone through yet. The Melun Administrative Court told us there is. there were tons and tons of files. On judgment day I’ll have to go to Melun, and I don’t know how, because I can’t even find myself. Buy a Navigo pass. We are in terrible precariousness. “
I have lived in Villejuif for 45 years. I see buildings everywhere and I don’t understand
“When we arrived at this hotel room, the Villejuif City Hall told us it was temporary, waiting to be moved, and today they tell us that they have no apartments available on the social quota. I have been living in Villejuif for 45 years. I see buildings everywhere, and I don’t understand. “
“I just ask for a small study. I feel totally trapped, because after the fire the town hall said they would come back to us and no one ever came back to take care of us. The only letters that are sent back to us, is to say that he doesn’t have an apartment or that we have to contact 115. But I can tell you that 115 is totally overwhelmed.
“And it’s my four-year-old daughter who suffers the most, never boyfriends or girlfriends, because it’s impossible. She’s tired of being here. When my daughter plays in the bedroom, she plays on the bed, because there aren’t any other places. She would like to have her own room. I contacted the head of City Hall’s Early Childhood Service to tell me about my daughter’s living conditions. She didn’t even tell me she answered. Nobody cares about us. ”
