French Charity Claims Victory as Paris Pledges to Tackle Homeless Crisis
Charity News Online
A charity that has forced authorities in Paris to take notice of its homeless people claimed victory this week after the French government moved to resolve the crisis by pledging €7m ($9m) to fund more flexible accommodation for 1,100 people without shelter in the capital. The government's move was prompted after tents given to homeless people by a medical charity began springing up around the city, The Financial Times wrote.
Medecins du Monde's "tent city" campaign - in which 300 homeless people were given tents to sleep in on the streets of Paris - prompted such outrage and sympathy that government officials were forced to act, The Independent reported Friday. In a rare move for the political summer off-season the junior minister for employment and social cohesion, Catherine Vaudrin, announced a package for Greater Paris worth EUR7m aimed at producing 1,270 hostel beds.
Much of the accommodation, she said, would be bedsits where homeless people could settle and not have to move out every morning. Between 2,000 and 5,000 people are estimated to sleep rough on the streets of Paris every night.
Medecins du Monde and other campaigners for poor people welcomed the move but said more efforts would be needed as winter approached. "It's a first step in the right direction," said Graciela Robert of Medecins du Monde.
The charity's campaign began last winter when it gave away 300 "two-second tents" - which unfurl rapidly and do not require poles or pins - to people who had been sleeping rough.
Small communities of eight to 10 tents, emblazoned with the Medecins du Monde logo, sprang up along the Quai d'Austerlitz and the Canal Saint-Martin. Some Parisians complained but many others sympathized with the homeless in their neighborhoods and bought them the tents, which retail for only about 40 euros. As a result, Medecins du Monde estimates there are about 500 tents on the streets of Paris.
charity, Paris, homeless, Medecins du Monde
Charity News Online
A charity that has forced authorities in Paris to take notice of its homeless people claimed victory this week after the French government moved to resolve the crisis by pledging €7m ($9m) to fund more flexible accommodation for 1,100 people without shelter in the capital. The government's move was prompted after tents given to homeless people by a medical charity began springing up around the city, The Financial Times wrote.
Medecins du Monde's "tent city" campaign - in which 300 homeless people were given tents to sleep in on the streets of Paris - prompted such outrage and sympathy that government officials were forced to act, The Independent reported Friday. In a rare move for the political summer off-season the junior minister for employment and social cohesion, Catherine Vaudrin, announced a package for Greater Paris worth EUR7m aimed at producing 1,270 hostel beds.
Much of the accommodation, she said, would be bedsits where homeless people could settle and not have to move out every morning. Between 2,000 and 5,000 people are estimated to sleep rough on the streets of Paris every night.
Medecins du Monde and other campaigners for poor people welcomed the move but said more efforts would be needed as winter approached. "It's a first step in the right direction," said Graciela Robert of Medecins du Monde.
The charity's campaign began last winter when it gave away 300 "two-second tents" - which unfurl rapidly and do not require poles or pins - to people who had been sleeping rough.
Small communities of eight to 10 tents, emblazoned with the Medecins du Monde logo, sprang up along the Quai d'Austerlitz and the Canal Saint-Martin. Some Parisians complained but many others sympathized with the homeless in their neighborhoods and bought them the tents, which retail for only about 40 euros. As a result, Medecins du Monde estimates there are about 500 tents on the streets of Paris.
charity, Paris, homeless, Medecins du Monde
posted by Lisa Vronskaya at 12:37 PM
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