In Haute-Garonne, solidarity vouchers to help the most disadvantaged

REPORTAGE

For the past year, the Haute-Garonne Departmental Council has been offering solidarity vouchers, such as meal vouchers, that beneficiaries can use at shops when shopping.

This system is aimed at the most disadvantaged, weakened by the health crisis triggered by Covid-19.

First distributed by the houses of solidarity, they can now be requested online or via a telephone platform which has been open for a month.

"I would like to call you back, concerning your online request ..." On the phone, Flore, social worker, will take a full assessment of the situation of a mother to see if she can benefit from 150 to 300 euros in vouchers for basic necessities.

This switchboard was opened in the face of the explosion of requests.

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"These are people who were not used to being helped"

Christelle Duplantier, head of the "Haute-Garonne Solidarity" network, notes that nearly a third of callers have never asked for help.

"There are new audiences, I am thinking of temporary workers in the aeronautics industry, subcontractors, people who worked in the restaurant business ... People who were not used to being helped," he lists. it from Europe 1.

Perrine is a student, she received 15 vouchers of 10 euros which help her to go shopping: "I bought something to eat today, and maybe a little for tomorrow", she confides.

"I am a student. My husband worked in a restaurant before the Covid-19. He still has partial income, of 430 euros per month. It's not heavy ... We also have the right to APL, but for me, these solidarity vouchers it's a real plus. You can feel the difference. " 

And like her, 60,000 people have benefited from this one-off aid, including 5,000 just last month since the opening of the telephone platform.