While the region is affected by regular heat peaks this summer, the situation is even more complicated for the homeless. Especially since during the holidays, the majority of associations helping the poorest close. In Nantes, one of the few places open in July-August, the Solidair’été center, is near the train station. The ten volunteers and employees distribute food parcels to the most vulnerable Nantes residents.
It’s 11 a.m., like every morning, Claudine comes to get a bag of food. “I have an egg, cheese and a can of sardines”, describes the retiree. These provisions are essential to him today: “I come here to have a snack because I can’t do it. I’ve worked all my life and I have nothing”.
Some want to talk, some don’t
Mokhtar holds the same bag in his hand, a few meters away. He has been on the street for two years. This summer, he comes to the center every day and likes to stay one or two hours to discuss. “I chat with anyone, having fun the old man. I’m friends with the old, I’m friends with the young.”
For Lydia, a volunteer in several associations, this center must be a listening place homeless people: “We talk to each other, they know our first names. Some want to talk, others don’t. We do what they really want”.
There is a lack
Since the beginning of summer, attendance at the center has increased : 70 people per day on average the first days of July and 120 today. According to Etienne, one of the two coordinators of the place, this is partly explained by the fact that many associations helping the poorest have closed for the summer. “There is a lack, especially in summer when it is hot and people on the street need to keep in touch. Social ties are as important as food and water in the end”, he says. For volunteers and employees on site, this center is a temporary support for the most precarious, until it closes on August 23.