Written by Catherine Léhé et Laurent Beaumel
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Secours catholique presented this Saturday, November 16, 2024 in Montpellier (Hérault), its annual report on the state of poverty in France in 2024 which continues to progress. But what particularly worries volunteers is the distance from solidarity.
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At Maison Campredon in Montpellier (Hérault), it's a party, a fair to forget poverty. Roxanne survives with her cats and her dog with 400 euros per month in alimony.
Each day begins with a food run. She assiduously frequents this Catholic Relief house as a volunteer and beneficiary, which unconditionally welcomes people in distress. Poverty turned his life upside down.
“When we find ourselves on the other side, we are ashamed. We have the impression of being nothing, of no longer existing. We hear the others too: “Oh, she doesn't work, she's lazy. We hear it all the time on television. Even when we're in precarious situations, we're someone. I had a hard time coming to terms with that for a while afterwards. a separation of a couple, we have the impression of no longer existing and we are ashamed of being stigmatized.”
Before, Roxane helped others by participating, for example, in the Restos du coeur collection. Going through the door of an association to ask for help was very difficult.
You go three days without eating, you have to take this step, she remembers. You have to say: could I have a few cans of canned goods, could I at least have something to eat for lunch? This is how it starts.
Roxane, volunteer and beneficiary of Catholic relief
Roxane is the mother of three grown children, who have gone far away to study. Before looking for food, she tried to break her solitude. By volunteering, she felt useful again. “My view of others has also changed a lot because poverty is disturbing. “I learned to look at and discover very good people, engineers, people who sometimes fell into alcoholism following an accident in life.”
Like many people in difficulty, dematerialization has also distanced them from public services and assistance to which they could qualify, due to lack of address. This is demonstrated by the latest annual report from Secours catholique which mentions it on its X account:
Like Roxanne, many of them give up their rights. At the same time, poverty and exclusion represent less than 4% of social protection spending per year.
The immense fresco created by the Montpellier street artist Sunny-Jim representing the famous illustration “We can do it” adorns the courtyard of the Campredon house to symbolize “the iron will” of the members of Secours catholique. It takes on its full meaning in the face of fading solidarity.
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© Laurent Beaumel – FTV
More than one poor household in four lives without any resources. A record. The president of Secours Catholique de l'Hérault, Jean Marie Brugeron, is especially concerned about a solidarity that is fading. “What worries me most beyond the figures is the general atmosphere they convey. Today, poverty is denounced and the poor are humiliated, in the speeches of various media and private speeches , he points We are once again incapable of showing solidarity to help the weakest. We must also fight against this general atmosphere which means that we no longer recognize someone who is human and like us.“
Poverty in Hérault is progressing in silence.
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