While the extreme cold plan was triggered in Burgundy at the start of the week Monday January 13, the day reception center in Dijon (Côte-d’Or) is very busy although it has been under construction for several years. Homeless people are currently accommodated in prefabs.
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Behind the doors of a prefabricated building, at the Dijon day reception center, the Dijon society for assistance through work (SDAT) supports people in greatest difficulty, far from housing. Reception conditions are not always easy on a temporary site while waiting for the work on the new center to be completed.
Since the activation of the extreme cold plan on Monday January 13, the SDAT has noted a significant increase in requests. “Excluding extreme cold, we have 75 passages per day, since the start of the week, we have been at 90 passages” notes Brice Morey, director of the association. Under construction since 2022, the construction site of the new center has fallen significantly behind schedule.
It’s not ideal, it’s small, it remains precarious, but we ensure the minimum
Brice MoreyDirector of SDAT
In the meantime, the association continues its mission in a temporary prefabricated building. “It’s not ideal, it’s small, it remains precarious, but we provide the minimum with social benefits and lunch or shower services.“.
The day reception center welcomes beneficiaries in a prefabricated building since 2022
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© Chloé Bouchasson / France Télévisions
For Phillipe, 61 years old and homeless since April 2024, this daytime reception is essential. “The breakfast is very generous and free. At lunchtime, you can eat for one euro. We know that in the new center, there will be a rest room. At night when it’s cold, people sleep very little on the street, so this room is going to be very important“. Due to lack of space, the current premises do not have any.
A few dozen meters away, workers are busy on the construction site on rue des Corroyeurs. The team of social workers hopes to spend their last winter in the temporary buildings. “We will have more space, 500 m2 dedicated to welcoming beneficiaries, with adapted showers and a catering area. In the meantime, we are patient, as are the beneficiaries.” explains the director of SDAT.
Launched at the end of 2022, the project was supposed to last fifteen months but was delayed. “It was really an extremely dilapidated place which accommodated a public in great precariousness. The work will be completed at the end of April. From May, the teams and beneficiaries will be able to move in” says the first deputy mayor of Dijon, Antoine Hoareau. The former day reception center was in fact in a degraded state, inaccessible to people with reduced mobility and a thermal sieve for energy consumption.
The amount invested for this operation is 2.4 million euros, including 700,000 euros financed by the city of Dijon.
► With Alexis Gaucher and Chloé Bouchasson
