As the cold seems to have set in, the Red Cross has stepped up the pace of its marauding. We followed one of them, this Wednesday January 15, 2025.
Wednesday, January 15, at 8 p.m. In the Mende Red Cross parking lot, a team of four volunteers prepares the equipment for the marauding. The trunk loaded with hot drinks and sleeping bags, the volunteers set out in search of the homeless. For several days, the prefecture has in fact triggered the Extreme Cold Plan. The day before, the temperature dropped to -14°C in Grandrieu.
“Our primary role is to discuss with people, find out if they need care and food, and be empathetic.“, explains Jacques Dourau, responsible for marauding in Mende. “It allows us to maintain a social connection, specifies Christine, one of the volunteers. This is first and foremost, above all else.”
Accommodation in La Traverse
First stop at La Traverse, which manages both day and night reception. “They tell us where we can find people, and depending on the case, where we can take them.“
That evening, a man had just left the accommodation center. The volunteers come across him a few hundred meters further on, limping, a crutch in one hand and a shopping bag in the other. The man says he was attacked and refuses to return to the center. A somewhat distorted version of reality: La Traverse reported that the drunken man got into a fight and made racist and anti-Semitic remarks.
Unfailing patience
No matter, the Red Cross cannot leave him alone in the cold without offering him accommodation. “But where are you going to sleep? You know that the only recourse is 115, and 115 is the Traverse“, Christine begins. There is no question of him going back there: “Not in there.” She offers him a sleeping bag. Another refusal. He finally accepts a coffee and begins to engage in dialogue.
Georgette offers him some sugar. A smile appears on the man's face: “You respect me.“After a few minutes of discussion, he let the volunteers call 115. No luck that evening, there was no more room, neither at La Traverse, nor in a hotel room. The center However, the accommodation is willing to welcome him into the common room. The man curses, then resigns.
Dialogue above all
The Red Cross car then heads towards the bus station. Christine pounds on the bathroom door. A fairly tipsy man comes out, all smiles: “Oh it's the Red Cross !“Christine asks him if he has gloves, warm clothes, good socks.”Everything I have is on me.“The man has difficulty articulating, but he wants to chat. He talks about his life in the street,”for ten or fifteen years“, evokes memories of Clermont-Ferrand.
Another man comes out of the shadows. “He’s my friend, he’s in even more trouble than me.” One has a coffee, the other a hot soup. But they don't want to call 115. No point in insisting. This night again, they will sleep sheltered in the public toilets. “We can't imagine in Lozère that we could find ourselves like this. And yet yes. Every year there are more and more“, regrets Jacques Dourau.
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Midi Libre – Manon Baffie
Under the bridges
It is now 9 p.m. The volunteers go to the banks of the Lot. In the summer, people sometimes sleep on the banks, near the Notre-Dame bridge. Fortunately, there is no one there. Volunteers check that no one is sleeping in their vehicle. “Sometimes there is a gentleman and his dog.” Not that night.
The Red Cross team continues its route towards Pierre-Couderc park. The thermometer shows 3°C. “Just a few days ago, a man was sleeping in a tent under the bridge. He was convinced to accept accommodation. But sometimes they come back.“The volunteers smile: he’s not there.”Look, he's sorting“, is surprised Christine who has just noticed glass jars carefully set aside. “And what's more, he threw away the beer cans“, adds Chantal.
The association is looking for volunteers
In Lozère as elsewhere, the Red Cross is in great need of volunteers. Commitment within the association is based on seven values: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, volunteerism, unity and universality. Jacques Dourau adds benevolence and discretion. “We are at the service of others. No judgment is made on people, even if they are drugged or alcoholic.. We ask ourselves what we can do for them and we direct them to a place where they can feel safe..”
The association asks members to have a little availability and above all a lot of good will. Beyond the patrols, the Red Cross is also looking for volunteers to run the vestiboutique or to distribute food to students. “Don't hesitate to come and knock on our door.“
“It’s not much, but we do it with a good heart”
The Red Cross team makes another stop near the Mendozère roundabout. Flashlight in hand, its members go to inspect a cavity under a staircase. “We were informed of a squat, but we can't find out who lives there.” The presence of a mattress is no mistake. But that evening, again, no one will show up.
It's almost 10 p.m. when the volunteers head downtown for their last stop. They leave their vehicle to patrol on foot. The tour does not last forever: there is not a cat in the narrow streets of the Lozère prefecture. The volunteers return with a feeling of accomplishment. “What we do is not much, but we do it with a good heart.”
