“Donations have fallen by 30% since July,” laments the general delegate of the Abbé Pierre Foundation Christophe Robert

The foundation, which will soon change its name, lives 97% thanks to donations and calls for a surge to provide maximum solutions to poorly housed and homeless people.

The general delegate of the Abbé Pierre Foundation, Christophe Robert, called Thursday, December 19 on franceinfo for a “startle” faced with the drop in donations to the emblematic association fighting against exclusion, shaken by accusations of sexual assault targeting Abbé Pierre. “The serious actions of Abbé Pierre must not penalize the poorly housed”he said.

“Since the revelations about the serious actions of Abbé Pierre, which we made public last July, donations have fallen by 30%”lamented Christophe Robert. “We expected a drop but not necessarily as significant as this.”

“The difficulty is that the Foundation operates almost exclusively thanks to donations, 97% of our resources come through the generosity of the public”he continued, calling for a “startle” donors during this end-of-year period. “If it were to last, it would necessarily force us to scale back. But when we see the mass of social needs, the increase in the problems of homeless people, I hope that we will not reach that point.”

“It concerns us a lot because we understand that it could be disruptive,” also said the general delegate of the Abbé Pierre Foundation. “But we said we were going to change our name. We feel that there is a moment of hesitation, of wait-and-see attitude among certain donors and we understand that”. Announcements could be made on this name change as early as January, according to Christophe Robert.

“This causes us a lot of concern”added Christophe Robert. “We remain very mobilized to provide as many solutions as possible to poorly housed and homeless people.”