how are the walks for the homeless organised?
Snow, freezing temperatures, morning frosts… For the past week, the extreme cold settled in the Pink City. In response, associations, in particular the French Red Cross in Toulouse, organizer of marauding events throughout the city. The missions aim to give priority to distributing hot meals to the homeless.
Four walks per week
Four times a week, teams from the Toulouse Red Cross mobilize. “Currently, four conveyed maraudes take place in the evening every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday”, explains Stephane Blandinpresident of the French Red Cross Toulousequestioned by The Independent Opinion. In addition, a mobile health team, made up of marauders and medical personnel, also provides rounds on Thursday afternoons. Finally, a pedestrian team officiates on Friday evening to go to places where vehicles no longer have access to the city centre.
All teams are made up of six people so that large groups of homeless people can be apprehended in the simplest way. We limit our ability to ‘go to’ depending on the number of people in the groups. With six people, we can take care of all types of profiles and individuals on the street”, explains the president of the French Red Cross Toulouse.
The Red Cross is not the only one working for the homeless in these very cold times. Thanks to the reinforcement and the deployment of certain associations, a patrol is carried out every evening. So the Integrated Reception and Orientation Service (SIAO), can intervene daily in slightly more complex situations. Among the associations in the field, we find Resto du Coeur, Secours Catholique, the Order of Malta, UMS 31, civil protection among others or Les Piafs de la rue. Between 11 and 13 associations operate in Toulouse.
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A room available
At the same time, the local Red Cross, at 20 rue Raymond IV in Toulouse is open mornings and afternoons. It welcomes people in precarious situations, to provide emergency food and clothing. This presents a wide range of services. “People can come and look for any type of activity there. We also welcome people so that they can find themselves warm. We offer them a coffee, we allow them to spend a little time in the shelter while respecting the constraints of the site”, says Stéphane Blandin. And for good reason, the maximum capacity of the premises is 40 people.
Other sites also work with the most precarious. For example, at Jean-Jaurès University, a social grocery store for students is present. At Le Grand Ramier, a service for direct debit is available. Finally, to the hospital is seriousthe Red Cross has a medical consultation service and public showers, “there too people can get together to warm up, have a coffee or have a consultation thanks to health professionals”, welcomes the president of the Red Cross Toulouse.
Search for active volunteers
The Red Cross explains that it is constantly looking for volunteers. This research also applies to the field of first aid and emergency situations. However, recent engagement campaigns have nonetheless been successful.
It turns out that the engagement and communication campaign we conducted paid off. We are almost 750 on the local unit of the Toulouse territory. The latest reinforcements have allowed us to maintain our activities without having to cancel any, but that is still fair”, admits Stéphane Blandin.
For the president of the Toulouse Red Cross, the ideal workforce would rather be based on a number of really active people. “We actually have people who come just once or twice a year,” says the Toulousain. He continues: “We need around 500 active peopleespecially for aid stations and emergency situations”. The message got through.