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Accueil Louise & Rosalie – Société de Saint-Vincent-de-Paul Shelter for Homeless women in Paris, France

The Louise & Rosalie homeless shelter in Paris, France was built by the Société Saint-Vincent-de-Paul to offer a safe place for homeless women to come take a shower, get food, medical care and clothes as well as legal support and help to find housing and employment. The homeless situation in Paris has been steadily worsening over the past decade and the women that end up living on the streets of Paris are at risk of being attacked and isolated from society.

In Paris there were roughly 16’000 homeless people living on the streets in 2020 supporting themselves through begging, street performances, services provided by the government and charities. For women who find themselves in a situation of homelessness there are many added risks. Many homeless women get attacked in the streets, lose custody of their children and have a harder time finding housing due to their lack of skilled work. Although the government in France found housing for 172’000 homeless people in 2020, many people still remain without a stable income, source of food or housing. In November of 2020, the Louise and Rosalie centre for homeless women opened offering food, showers, hygiene items, legal counselling, job and housing support.

History

France had an estimated 200’000 homeless people in 2020 of which 20% were children living on the streets with their parents. 172’000 received some form of housing support from the government as well as food support. In Paris there was an estimated 16’000 homeless people who were not given housing and were left to beg for money or perform on the streets. Around 26% of homeless people in France were women, of which 96% had experienced some kind of domestic abuse or were attacked or violated while living in the streets.

The Louise and Rosalie Centre for homeless women was opened on November 12th 2020 by the Société de Saint-Vincent-de-Paul to help these women get legal support to find housing and employment as well as food, medical and hygiene services such as showers and personal hygiene products. Many of these women were living on the streets with their children in cardboard boxes and begging for money to feed their families.

Mission

The Louise and Rosalie Centre for homeless women was started by the Société de Saint-Vincent-de-Paul with the idea of offering warm meals, showers, laundry services, medical care and legal support to obtain housing and employment to the homeless women in Paris.

The Project supported by the Caritas Pro Vitae Gradu Charitable Trust

Thanks to our initial support and the support of other donors, the construction work of the Louise and Rosalie Centre for homeless women was completed in October of 2020, and the rooms were furnished. Our donation also allowed the Louise and Rosalie Centre to buy equipment needed to take care of the 600 homeless women who visited the centre in November and December of 2020 and the first months of 2021.

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We support activities in a variety of sectors in the social field, more specifically the relief of poverty, the improvement of education, the access to health services, the assistance to migrants and refugees, the protection of families and life