Bordeaux : dans la maison Lazare, jeunes actifs et personnes sorties de la rue vivent en colocation
Through Geraldine Robin
Published on
updated Nov 14 21 at 21:35
In the collective unconscious, shared accommodation is a mode of housing associated with youth, a little tinkered with, serving as a temporary alternative while finding a home. Here, none of that. The roommates from Lazarus houses are not like the others: between their walls coexist active youths, generally between 25 and 35 years old, and people who have known the streets and precariousness extreme. An explosive mix of profiles, with a human and social vocation, which works rather well, since the Lazare association has just opened its 11th house, in a new city: Bordeaux. The imposing building, located on Place Saint Martial, in the heart of the Chartrons, opened its doors to tenants since September 2021. Today, it already houses 11 roommates and the Fouan family. Small tour of the owner.
A roof and people
At the origin of this initiative, there is first Étienne Villemain. Carried by the desire to reconnect with a real social bond and to work towards the most disadvantaged, he will settle in roommate with friends and men who have left the streets, in Paris, in 2006. An experience that will mark him in the past. point of giving birth, in 2011, to the Lazare association. The concept is known, seduced. Over the years, a community of young active people in solidarity has been formed and various Lazare houses have sprung up, on the national territory: in Nantes, Lyon, Marseille, Lille, Toulouse… And Bordeaux, since last September.
“The idea of opening a Lazare house in Bordeaux has been trotting in our heads for two years”, slips Aliénor de Sentenac, communications officer for the association and herself a former roommate at the Nantes house.
“The idea is to get young active volunteers on board, eager to embark on a human and solidarity adventure, by living together with people from the streets. It is not a home or an emergency structure, it is a real collocation. Everyone pays rent, there are rules to follow. What to communicate to us, at Lazare, is to allow the most to have a roof and to come out of isolation, to reintegrate into life, into society. It is a real commitment. », Adds the young woman.
A family adventure
In Bordeaux, the house, located on Place Saint-Martial, is in fact the former presbytery of the Saint-Martial church, which it faces. Previously occupied by another association, La Maison de Marie, the building was made available to the association by the town hall of Bordeaux. Once the place has been found, several months of work will follow, fully supported by the association, in order to renovate the house.
Even if there is still work to be done, the Fouan family recovered the keys last June. Because within a Lazare house, a responsible family is imperative. Behind this name lie several missions: the responsible family signs a three-year lease, lives on site in an apartment separate from shared accommodation, oversees the project internally, recruits roommates, whether they are “young professionals”. “Or” people in trouble “. And above all, the responsible family is present. It may not seem like much, yet it is already a lot.
Arthur and his wife Sybille did not hesitate when they learned that a Lazare house was going to set up in Bordeaux. In the adventure, they take their children with them: Lætitia (5 years old), Isabelle (4 years old) and the youngest, Étienne (3 months).
Being a responsible family is an important commitment. Fortunately, we are supported by the association now with ten years of experience. We are not alone. Our daily role is to provide warmth. Share a coffee, chat, listen … But we are neither social workers, nor doctors, nor psychologists. We ensure the proper functioning of shared accommodation, we accompany, we support. And above all, we allow people from the street to reconnect with the idea of family. They are often broken people, with heavy and painful family baggage. We allow them to come to terms with certain benchmarks that they would be misled, simply by being a united family, with our qualities, our faults.
Sybille, who has long been a marauder, is very sensitive to issues related to social exclusion and insecurity. Arthur too: he was by the way himself, in a similar roommate. Sybille joined him there every weekend.
“It’s a bit like living in a place where we hear all our neighbors: we have common spaces but also each our home! », She specifies, little Étienne asleep in his bras.
An organized roommate household
The house offers many advantages: a beautiful green space, three levels, spacious rooms. On the ground floor, there is the shared accommodation for women (six places). The first floor, where the entrance is made, is dedicated to the common areas (in particular a huge dining room which invites shared meals) and to the Fouan family apartment. Finally, on the top floor is the shared accommodation for men (10 places).
Within each shared apartment, individual rooms, several bathrooms, a living room, a kitchen. Another rule specific to Lazare: an equal number of young active and precarious. Question of balance. Because living together, without establishing a protocol, can quickly become complicated.
The “roommates” are all independent, pay an identical rent of 320 € (residents are eligible for RSA and APL), and participate in the costs of the courses up to 80 €. Each roommate has a common card for that, and shares a weekly meal, to cook together, meet around the table, discuss. The dishes, the cleaning, all the tasks are shared. And every Friday evening, all the roommates and the Fouan family are invited to eat together in the common room. Everyone brings what they want, Spanish inn style. The goal: to strengthen ties and maintain the whole, in a benevolent atmosphere.
In the house, there is neither alcohol nor television. If one of the roommates has addiction problems, he can benefit from the support of an “expert patient”: someone who has experienced an addiction, now sober and trained to support people in pain. One afternoon a week, a social worker goes on site, in particular to help roommates who have left the streets administratively and professionally. And alongside these rules and rituals, there are moments together, board games, confidences, slacking, children’s laughter. In short: an open, lively place that vibrates to the rhythm of its inhabitants.
A roommate that settles down smoothly
In mid-November, they are already seven young workers installed in the house. Five men, two women (a third is being recruited). The oldest resident is 32 years old. Medicine, education, teaching, finance, etc. Professional profiles are very diverse. “The difference is what makes the project so rich,” Arthur enthuses.
The first “galley roommates” started arriving at the beginning of the month. The integration is done gradually, smoothly. There is already Christophe, who arrived with his suitcases in the pouring rain. But also Abdel and Bruno, who arrived on November 12, tired. The next morning, he began the process to register with a temporary employment agency. And on the Facebook group dedicated to roommates, he wrote this:
There it’s done. I am in my room, which has been kindly prepared by the roommates, with a word of welcome. It has been years since I felt this human and family warmth. Even though I am here as a guest I feel at home. I will finally be able to sleep soundly, without having to worry. And I can’t wait to meet all of the roommates present and to come.
Finally, there is Stéphanie, the first “roommate in trouble” to join Amélie and Marie, the two young professionals already installed. She has been homeless since 2019, has been working on an interim basis for a month. Without ever leaving your suitcases, without ever knowing if there will be room in emergency homes. She arrived on Saturday, November 13, at the end of the day.
“Not all profiles can correspond to Maison Lazare,” emphasizes Sybille. “You have to want to live in a shared apartment with young people, to respect the rules. We get a lot of phone calls, but sometimes the people in the streets have been misdirected by the workers, simply through word of mouth. “
If the current “roommates in galley” installed are all in their forties, Arthur and Sybille receive interviews with people from 19 to 60 years old. “There are a lot of associations in Bordeaux, a great desire for solidarity. But there is also a lot of precariousness, of people outside. We do what we can, on our own scale… And that makes us happy. The experience has only just begun and yet it has already transformed us all. ”
A second, more substantial Lazare house is planned for 2023, on the right bank, not far from the stone bridge. In the meantime, the first is slowly being built. The official inauguration, open to all, will be held this Wednesday, November 17 at 7 p.m. A nice way to mark the occasion, to present the project and, like Lazare, to open up to others.
Has this article been useful to you? Note that you can follow Actu Bordeaux in the Mon Actu space. In one click, after registration, you will find all the news of your favorite cities and brands.