Secours Populaire volunteers distribute basic necessities in Saint-Denis on May 6, 2020. - AFP

  • Precarious workers, undeclared employees or temporary workers, many of them come for the first time to knock on the doors of associations, taken aback.
  • The latter are also worried about end-of-year donations which could be less important with the crisis.

Queues in front of food distribution points that get longer from week to week. These disturbing images are more and more frequent in big cities. On the front line on the front lines, charities confirm this: “We have observed a very strong increase in demand for food aid since the start of confinement: the number of beneficiaries of our food parcels has also increased by 45% in two months, ”observes Jean Stellittano, national secretary of the Secours populaire.

The same goes for Véronique Fayet, president of Secours Catholique: "We distributed 3 million euros in service vouchers in two months to buy basic necessities, 10 times more than usual." The Restos du Coeur are also overwhelmed: “We note an increase in the number of visitors to our reception centers, and more requests for contacts during our marauders. We also distributed cold meals in the gymnasiums where the homeless had been sheltered. And while food distribution is normally done under conditions of resources in our reception, since the beginning of the crisis, we decided that the reception would be unconditional ”.

"If the number of beneficiaries increases too much, we will not be able to climb this walk"

Because while some French people were already experiencing difficult ends of the month, the health crisis and confinement also put low-income households in difficulty, sometimes making them switch abruptly from precariousness to poverty. “A lot of people that we were not used to seeing in our reception centers now come there: people who were on fixed-term or temporary contracts and who no longer have jobs, families who have to bear food costs in more because they no longer benefit from social rates in the canteen, undocumented people who no longer have odd jobs… ”, explains Véronique Fayet. “We have seen people come back to our reception areas who had found a fragile balance before the health crisis. People who attended social grocery stores or day counters that were closed during confinement also turned to the antennas of Secours populaire, ”observes Jean Stellittano for his part.

An increase in the demand for aid, which has resulted in significant expenses for associations: "The aid provided until the beginning of May by the Secours populaire represents the equivalent of 315 million euros, because we had to buy massively foodstuffs ”, informs Jean Stellittano. Not to mention that it was necessary for the associations to equip themselves with masks, visors, gel, which generated new expenses. Fortunately, they were able at the same time to benefit from a surge of solidarity from the French, according to Nolwenn Poupon, spokesperson for France Générosités, a union which represents a hundred associations and foundations: “During confinement, many individuals spontaneously donated online. But we do not know if they will start again by the end of 2020. However, 41% of donations made to associations are made in the last 3 months of the year. If the drop in donations is too strong at that time, the situation will get complicated, ”she worries. “The economic crisis is before us. If the number of beneficiaries increases too much, we will not be able to climb this market, ”said Lionel Hesclowicz, treasurer of Restos du Coeur.

Many associations currently lack arms

Aware of the risk of increasing poverty, the government announced at the end of April the release of an envelope of 39 million euros distributed to associations to finance purchases of foodstuffs. "It can keep us going for several months, but the economic crisis will be felt much longer than that," said Lionel Hesclowicz. "We are far from the mark," adds Jean Stellittano.

But this is not the only concern of associations. Because many of them currently lack arms: “We worked with 30% of volunteers during the confinement, because many of them are elderly and could not take risks for their health. At the same time, we also received many applications, but we were unable to integrate many new volunteers because their training takes time and we were already overwhelmed, ”explains Lionel Hesclowicz. A problem also encountered by the Secours populaire: “5,000 new volunteers came to swell our ranks during the confinement to compensate for the withdrawal of those who could not provide reception. But given the growing demand for aid, we will need much more, ”says Jean Stellittano. “Many of our volunteers are elderly and will be afraid to resume their activities as long as the virus circulates. And new young volunteers will gradually resume their work. We will have to organize distributions rather in the evening or on weekends to adapt to their constraints, ”also anticipates Véronique Fayet.

Society

Coronavirus: “People are confined. The round brings less. It's galley "for the homeless

Society

"I stay in telework", "I still don't know when I could join my loved ones" ... Those disappointed with the deconfinement confide

  • Association
  • Food aid
  • Society
  • Coronavirus
  • Covid 19
  • Poverty