UA folding bed was installed, between the flipchart and the desk, in this small space initially dedicated to professional coaching sessions. Muhammet received a duplicate key and will be able to sleep there for three months. In this former studio converted into an office, a cupboard was allocated to him, and a bathroom and a kitchenette were made available to him.
Les Bureaux du coeur, an association founded in Nantes in 2019, facilitates connections between social partners and businesses in order to offer professional premises to single people in precarious situations. These spaces are transformed into accommodation and are made available free of charge in the evenings and weekends, when the offices are unoccupied. Present in Bordeaux since 2022, the association collaborates with eight local companies, called “hosts”, and has already hosted around fifteen people.
Permanent contract, without accommodation
This Monday, December 16 in the evening, Olivier Richard opens his office to receive his third guest in a year. “It seems obvious to me. There are places where there is no one at night and which could be used,” shares the manager of Optimum Humanis. From 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., the place will be dedicated to coaching sessions, and at night, it will be occupied by Muhammet. “It’s not restrictive at all. We might meet up sometimes to have coffee together and chat. It’s simple: 99% of people are good and honest, so why hesitate? »
“For a single man, it is very difficult to find housing. Only 40% of refugees manage to find accommodation”
Muhammet left Turkey to arrive in France in 2021. At 26 years old, this worker is now on a permanent contract in a construction company based in Bordeaux. “Here, there is work, but no housing,” he laments. The professional integration advisor of the COS Alexandre Glasberg Foundation, social partner of this reception, agrees: “For a single man, it is very difficult to find housing. Only 40% of refugees manage to find accommodation. In Bordeaux, the market is extremely tight. »
Without compensation
“How much do I have to pay to be here?” » Initially hosted in Ambarès-et-Lagrave, Muhammet can now occupy the office free of charge for three months, allowing him to get to work more quickly. “A parenthesis” in the hope of finally finding stable housing. “The objective is that at the end of this reception period, there is real accommodation and that we avoid returning to the street,” explains Olivier Quoy, delegate of the Bureaux du cœur in Bordeaux .
Once installed, a reception agreement is signed between the company, the support structure and the guest, a formality to guarantee a framework of security and support for the duration of the welcome. “I’m going to be happy here,” confides Muhammet, sitting on the bed, who hopes one day to be able to return to his old job as a school guidance counselor and, “perhaps, work in a place like this,” adds. he smiled.
