Toni is a father of three children. This family lives on the street, in a square in the 6th arrondissement of Lyon. The father hopes to find a job.
Toni, a father, has been living on the streets for three weeks with his three children. He moved to a square in the 6th arrondissement of Lyon two weeks ago. The family lives in a two-person tent.
The eldest, Kelly, 4, and Adil, 5, are French. They are enrolled in school and started kindergarten on Monday, September 2.
“They understand that we are on the street, as we once lived in a house and ate on time. Now, we don’t eat on time,” explains the father.
“My dream is to work”
After his mother left, Toni had a series of problems. He was housed, until then for free, by a resident of Roanne. But this father without papers, without help or work, had to leave the place.
“My dream is to get up in the morning, go to work, put my children in school. Be like the other people on this earth. Have a normal life, not a life like this,” sighs the father.
On the street in the 6th arrondissement, it was a police officer who helped them settle in this park. He deplores having been subjected to alcohol and drug tests to look after his children.
“I think that if it were a mother, it would already be over. But I have a strength in my brain, I do everything necessary. I make my children smile, despite everything we are going through,” he puts into perspective.
For now, the family is living on donations from some of the neighborhood residents who are moved by the situation. Toni remains hopeful that he will find a job and provide a roof over his head for his family.
At the end of August, UNICEF published its barometer of children on the street. On a local scale, their number has increased in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. With an increase of 84% in one year, the number of children on the streets is exploding in the Rhône. While there were 87 in August 2023, there were now at least 160.
Chloe Bounameaux and Solenne Bertrand
