A resident of the underprivileged Maison Blanche in Marseille participates in a food distribution during confinement -
Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP
During the spring confinement, associations and collectives established in the neighborhoods had been overwhelmed by the needs of precarious families.
As soon as the reconfinement was announced on October 28, structures located in disadvantaged districts of Marseille drew up an inventory of their stocks.
The objective is to be able to sustain the distribution of foodstuffs over time.
The city hall of Marseille announced the implementation of emergency measures, firstly through building the capacity of the Samu social.
For associations and collectives on the front in Marseille, the announcement of the reconfinement gives rise to fear of the worst.
“In comparison with March, the situation has deteriorated because the resources of fragile families have not recovered.
Today, people are much more naked and much more vulnerable ”, worries Pierre-Olivier Dolino, director of the Fraternité de la Belle-de-Mai, a popular district of the 3rd arrondissement.
Last spring, this pastor coordinated a support mechanism with schools in the area aimed at distributing basic necessities.
Dozens of families hitherto unknown to the structures had come forward.
Once again, Pierre-Olivier Dolino expects the same scenario and knows that he will have to quickly "deploy emergency food aid".
With the hope of managing to contain the situation better, compared to the first confinement “where families could not feed their children.
This time, they will continue to go to school and therefore to eat in the canteen.
We therefore hope that it will be less violent.
"
Triple stocks
Farida Benchaa, departmental secretary at Secours populaire in charge of solidarity, observed the fear of beneficiaries even before the reconfinement was formalized by Emmanuel Macron on October 28.
“We had a presentiment of what was going to happen.
During the last maraud in front of Saint-Charles station before the announcement, the fear was obvious.
There were about 20 more people than usual, ”she says.
The next morning, the Secours populaire des Bouches-du-Rhône organized a crisis meeting.
The objective, this time, is to keep all the Marseilles branches open, which had not been possible during the first wave.
Farida Benchaa's team then set up a "watch on food reserves" because the number of packages to be distributed could explode in the days to come.
“Normally, we distribute 60,000 parcels per month.
Our objective for the re-containment is to be able to triple this figure, ”she says on the basis of the needs observed during the first wave.
Before concluding bitterly: “in the spring, we learned a lot.
But despite all the associations mobilized by our side, there are not enough of us to absorb the demand.
"
"The uncertainty of tomorrow"
During the first wave, the neighborhood collectives were therefore directly contacted by residents outside of institutional radars.
This is the case of the Maison Blanche collective in the 14th arrondissement, which has just reopened its pot in order to replenish stocks.
“We even had families who came from L'Estaque to our place, on the advice of their social worker!
», Assures the co-founder of the collective Naïr Abdallah in a video shared on October 29 on Facebook.
Reached by phone, he explains “receiving again messages from people in an irregular situation, from black workers.
People are afraid, the containment fell at the end of the month.
"
Also in the 14th arrondissement, less than two kilometers from Maison Blanche, McDonald's volunteers in Saint-Barthélémy are preparing for “an even more powerful wave of precariousness,” predicts Salim Grabsi of the Syndicat des Quartiers Populaires de Marseille (SQPM).
In full judicial liquidation, the old brand has turned into a solidarity platform and receives food from individuals and associations.
"Today, we have a list of 14,000 people and we receive around fifty new registrants every day," the activist is alarmed.
During the first wave, the old municipal majority had not been of any support to us.
We don't get help from the Food Bank either.
If nothing changes, we will run out of resources.
"
New audiences
The Food Bank of Bouches-du-Rhône, which supplies food to nearly 180 partner structures, already explains that it maintains a rate of 60 tonnes of food per week.
“In the spring, we went up to 90 tonnes.
We expect to have to do the same this winter, ”says departmental secretary Monique Dumont.
On the city side, the services announced on Friday to mobilize "part of the budget usually allocated to hosting and organizing canceled events" for the benefit of emergency social measures.
“In the coming days, the Samu Social will go from 500 daily meals to 1,000,” explains Audrey Garino, social affairs assistant.
The needs are increasing, among the homeless but also among very different audiences.
"
Because by its duration, the social crisis is likely to affect households so far spared.
Salim Gabsi then analyzes: “deconfinement had allowed people to find a semblance of resourcefulness.
The reconfinement plunges them back into the uncertainty of the next day.
It’s the worst thing.
"
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Marseilles