Faced with inflation and rising demands, the association fears having to turn away at least 10% of its beneficiaries for its winter campaign. In Woippy as elsewhere, volunteers have been trained to break bad news.
A couple in their thirties arrive for the 2 p.m. meeting. He is at the RSA, she “without anything”. These parents of a young child brought all the documents requested to register at the Restos du coeur in Woippy (Moselle). On the other side of the office, two volunteers enter this personal information into the computer one by one. The amount of rent, that of family allowances, electricity expenses… The internal software is intractable: the “excess” box lights up red. “We are sorry, but unfortunately, that is not going to be possible this time. You will not be able to benefit from food aid this winter”, Sylvaine Bardot stammers, very annoyed. André Bruyand comes to his aid: “In fact, you have resources a little above the new scales. There are 60 euros too much. Once again, we’re sorry.” Silence in the office. The couple takes it without a word. “It’s like that”reacted the man, before leaving with his files under his arm.
Never seen. For the first time since its creation in 1985 by Coluche, the association, which distributes a third of food aid in France, must reduce the number of its beneficiaries for its winter campaign, which begins on November 21. Blame it on inflation, exploding needs and donations that don’t keep up enough. Hearing at the National Assembly at the beginning of October, the general delegate of the organization warned: “From November, we are going to refuse people. The Restos du coeur are not sized today to distribute 170 million meals, to accommodate 1.3 million people, or 200,000 more in one year.” Without change, also alerted Jean-Yves Troy, “Restos du coeur could go out of business within three years.”
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While they were to be increased by 40% according to information from franceinfo, the resource scales to be eligible this winter were finally revised on the decline. “There are beneficiaries who were well on their way, and who are now no longer”sighs Muriel Dick, the manager of Restos du coeur in Woippy. Here, as in the 2,200 branches of the association in France, an explanatory sheet has been placed on the desks used for registrations. Each beneficiary is notified: “Financial constraints (…) force us to adapt. Also, this year, the association has modified the conditions of access to regular food aid.” If necessary, there are translations of the text in Arabic or English in a drawer.
“It’s already twisting my stomach.”
Last week, Miranda Rusi was called to the rescue. The volunteer, who speaks seven languages, had to break the bad news in Spanish to beneficiaries. Paule Bettinger, too, will take it upon herself to warn a family she has seen every week for more than 25 years. “I looked at his file and I know it won’t pass this time. I told the team I’ll take care of it.” She is still thinking about the words she is going to use. “It’s going to be heartbreaking, it’s already making me sick to my stomach. I’m going to offer him a coffee, maybe we can isolate ourselves too.”
Muriel Dick sticks a head between the pallets. “If there is a difficulty, you know I am there”, she says to the twenty or so volunteers present. Once out of the way, his tone changes: “How painful these times are… Right now, every day, people are being refused.”
“We’re not here for that in theory. It’s extremely hard for our volunteers to have to say no. Sometimes, it’s only 5 or 10 euros.”
Muriel Dick, manager of Restos du coeur in Woippyat franceinfo
All volunteers responsible for registrations urgently underwent mandatory training to learn how to announce the decision. “It’s unfortunate, but we learned to say no”, summarizes Brigitte Busolini, project manager at Restos du coeur for the Grand-Est region. She remembered that there were words to avoid “so as not to dramatize” and others to be preferred “to stay human”.
“It is advisable to explain very quickly that it is not our fault, that we have nothing to do with it, that it is the survival of the Restaurants that is at stake.”
Brigitte Busolini, project manager at Restos du coeur for the Grand-Est regionat franceinfo
We must also reassure: “For the moment, we can no longer welcome you. But if your situation changes, you come back to see us.” The trainers dissected five possible reactions of the applicants: denial, sadness, anger, acceptance or negotiation.
“I felt bad seeing them so sad”
Brigitte Busolini has already had to put in application of these new rules during its permanence at the Sarralbe itinerant center, near Sarreguemines. “In one morning, I had to refuse four families. Four no out of seven requestsshe calculates, still moved. I felt bad seeing them so sad.” In the process, she also received a desperate e-mail from a “failed” beneficiary who begged for a new study of his file.
A second chance may be granted for people whose excess does not exceed 10% above the scale. “We get the team together and we discussdetails Paule Bettinger. The idea is to go beyond the numbers, it is to take into account the family’s environment.”
“The question we ask ourselves is this: if we don’t help this family, does they have a plan B?”
Paule Bettinger, volunteer at Restos du coeur in Woippyat franceinfo
Paule Bettinger remembers this mother who was narrowly “saved”: “We discovered that she was going back and forth every day between Metz and Nancy because her 2-year-old daughter was having heart surgery. It was very simple, if we didn’t help her, she was sinking.”
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Outside, behind the white door, beneficiaries are patiently waiting for their turn, shopping bags on wheels stored side by side. A man, tall and lean, turns his spoon in an empty cup. “It stresses me out, these new rules. I don’t know if it’s going to do it or not. If I no longer have the Restaurants, what do I do? Where do I go?” A volunteer mentioned it to him during the distribution a few days ago, he says. “She told me: ‘You know that we won’t be able to accommodate everyone this winter?’ I had already heard it on TV.” Between two puffs of a cigarette, his neighbor in line interrupts him:
“Have you won the Lotto since the last time?
– No.
– You work ?
– Always not.
“So, don’t worry, buddy.”
Stéphane B., 54, is next on the list. “Good customer” Restaurants in Woippy, it “understand” the decision of the association. “With the crisis and all the mess, things are falling apart for them too. There are too many of us who need them.” The fifty-year-old is convinced of being able to continue to benefit from food aid. “It will pass for me. Large evenhe assures, adjusting his cap. “My situation has not changed. Still 534 euros of RSA per month, still a damaged back from years of masonry, still overweight and scoliosis which prevent me from working.”
“There will be damage”
In the corridors, the beneficiaries who have just had their registration refused are easily identifiable: they come down from the administrative floor with a relief package. “Enough to last three mealscomments Muriel Dick. We know it’s not much, but it’s our small gesture. We also tell them that they are obviously always welcome for coffee, to chat or to resolve an administrative problem.”
“People who will no longer have access to food aid will be entitled to all other aid. We are not letting anyone down. Our door is always open.”
Muriel Dick, manager of Restos du coeur in Woippyat franceinfo
But even for the beneficiaries of the winter campaign, the shopping bags will seem too big. Because to get through the crisis, the association must reduce funding by a third. Completed six meals per week per person. From now on it will be four. Also no more distribution of emergency packages once a month. As for milk, until now considered a separate product, it joins the family of supplements, with sugar, oil, flour… A volunteer places a hand on her forehead: “I’m worried about some moms. What will they do?”
After the cry for help launched at the beginning of September, donations have also flowed into Moselle. Far ten million euros offered by Bernard Arnault, the boss of the luxury group LVMH, “but that’s already it”, greets Alain Maurice, responsible for public subsidies for the association at departmental level. In the list, there is the boss of a local SME who added 4,000 euros. Or the EMU, the energy supplier in the Metz region, who wrote a check for 10,000 euros.
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Alain Maurice is determined to continue going “look for money where there is it”. “The idea is to do what a sales team does in an average companyexplains the man whose job until retirement was precisely to convince customers to put their hands in their pockets. We’re going to select local businesses by turnover size, and we’re going to go see them and explain to them that the Restaurants need them.” With a strong argument: the tax reduction of 60% of donations. He repeats his text: “If you give us 10,000 euros, it will really cost you 4,000.”
At the association’s headquarters, in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, we encourage this type of initiative. At the beginning of September, the presidencyestimated at around 150,000 the number of people who could be rejected for the winter campaign. That is at least one in ten beneficiaries. “At Woippy, we will know at the end of the month how many of our 700 usual beneficiaries no longer meet the criteriasteps forward Muriel Dick. But there will be damage, that’s clear.” A woman, alone, comes down from upstairs. We just warned her: “It’s no.” In Woippy, after two weeks of registrations for the winter campaign, she is already the thirteenth to be refused.