A new reception center for single mothers with children has opened in the Soie district near Lyon. It is the 9th site financed by the metropolis. However, families are still in very precarious situations and associations are calling for more beds.
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Abida finally has a home. A room for her and her four children, with a shared kitchen, laundry room and personal shower. For a month, the family has been living in the new reception center for single mothers in the Lyon metropolis, just like thirteen other women and 39 children. After the street, the emergency shelters, the hotel rooms, it’s a little stability and security.
This site located in the La Silk district has been rehabilitated to meet emergency accommodation needs. Needs that the metropolis cannot completely take care of. Due to lack of resources, the reception of single mothers was even suspended this summer, but faced with the outcry from the various aid structures, the metropolis reversed course at the beginning of September. Reception has resumed but with more limited place allocation criteria.
“The metropolis is doing a lot, but unfortunately it is not yet enough and given the current context, whether at the national or local level, I think that it is really not the right time to tighten the criteria. Currently, there are 238 street children in the Lyon metropolitan area.” adds Juliette Murtin. “A third of these children are taken care of in Lyon schools. 11 schools are occupied at the beginning of October, which is unheard of in the Lyon metropolitan area” she adds. The situation risks becoming tense, expulsions would be planned.
“The law is clear on the issue of emergency accommodation: it is the situation of distress which must prevail and not the administrative situation. This is the principle of unconditionality of welcome” warns Juliette Murtin, member of the Solidarité entre femmes à la rue collective.
This principle translates into a continuum of rights: non-discrimination in access to accommodation, right to assessment and social support, minimum benefits (room, board and hygiene) and respect for fundamental freedoms (dignity, security, private and family life).
For its part, the metropolis believes it is making an unprecedented effort. This is the 9th site opened to accommodate this population. In four years, it has doubled its capacity to accommodate single mothers with children. “In 2019, we had a budget of 800 000 € for the reception of isolated women, with a child under 3 years old, we are at 11.3 million euros in 2024” replies Bruno Bernard, president of the Métropole de Lyon (EELV).
Previously, solutions were limited to hotel rooms. “The metropolis of Lyon takes its part based on its departmental skills. We apply the law and we are the only ones to do so since the State which is responsible for emergency accommodation cannot cope and our neighboring departments do not apply the law” adds the chosen one.
Currently, nearly 1,200 women and children are sheltered by the metropolis of Lyon, a level never reached, but which does not cover all needs. A 10th site will open soon.
