in Lille, “Maison Corinne Masiero” welcomes homeless women and drug users

To allow them to find some respite, in Lille, this system, named after a northern actress who had experienced the streets and drugs, welcomes these women in very precarious situations.

It’s a small, hidden house, in an industrial area east of Lille, where faint silhouettes come and go. In Lille, homeless women and drug users, many of whom have fallen into drug addiction, seek refuge at Maison Corinne Masiero, named after an actress who experienced the streets and drugs. A unique system in France, managed by two associations: Abej Solidarité and Cèdr’Agir. Women are welcomed there 24 hours a day and funding is sustainable.

That day, Nadia sat on the large sofa in the recreation room: “I understand. It’s been six months and everything is going very well.” For six months, he occupied one of the ten rooms upstairs here, after years spent entirely outside. Nadia is 50 years old: “I was doing drugs, I was living in a tent, it wasn’t easy.”

Street? He was still there all the time, and it was getting harder, he said: “We were attacked, we were persecuted. That’s what happened to me not long ago. One of my colleagues was even raped.” Like all residents here, Nadia is still addicted. “I smoke crack”, he said. And this remains the case, for now, every day, because Maison Corinne Masiero is not a place to retreat.

“It is not our aim to reduce consumption, explains Géraldine Roussel, head of the department. Our aim is to reduce risks and damage, therefore, we offer advice, equipment and are able to maintain them.” So in a small accessible chest of drawers: pipes, grids, tips, syringes… A kit with all the equipment available for injection. “Everything is sterile and disposable”, determine department heads. There are also condoms.

Therefore, keep these women safe, many of whom also prostitute themselves to pay for illegal drugs – cocaine-based, which is most often smoked, namely crack. Even though it’s not allowed “consume” on location.

That day, a former resident, walking somewhat confused, passed by. “It’s a woman who is welcomed into our home and they have the opportunity to come back again, said Géraldine Roussel. To get equipment, to eat…” In the kitchen, Bruno, who is a volunteer, is busy. It’s almost lunch time. Everything is taken care of here. Citizens do not have to pay anything. This is what makes this place special: the non-stop reception is fully funded by the Regional Health Service and the inter-ministerial accommodation delegation (Dihal).

However, one of the women who had been there for a month went missing. He has been outside for almost 72 hours: “A woman who will lose her place at 12:57 if she doesn’t return, commented nurse Sarah Grandjean. In general, they are involved in consumption, sex work…” He watched the boards come and go: ““There were people there who left yesterday at 5 pm, went back to sleep in the afternoon until 6/7 pm, then went out again.”

“Sometimes we experience life cycle reversals.”

Sarah Grandjean

at franceinfo

Returning within the specified time means showing your desire for stability, in this Maison Corinne Masiero. Nadia says she wants out of it: “There are many girls who would like to have a place like that. I am a single mother of three children. I don’t know if I will die tomorrow. I want to enjoy my children. I have acquaintances who died at 40, I have fears. That is what I will fight for. I want to have a roof over my head. There is nothing like home.”

Despite its modest aims, the system reassured the authorities, its funding in Lille was guaranteed for years to come and everyone hoped the model could be implemented elsewhere in France.