A small pink blanket covers the legs of Zohra *, 14 months old.
His older brother is bundled up in a black down jacket.
Last Friday, he did not join his class at the Galignani school, in Corbeil-Essonnes.
The day before, her mother was called in an emergency: Alex *, 7, had a fever and had vomited.
“I think it's because of the stress of the situation, analyzes Alicia *, the mother.
He is traumatized by what is happening to us.
He talks about it all the time.
He can't understand how we ended up on the street like that.
"
On September 11, this 34-year-old mother found all her things outside when she came home from work.
His apartment key no longer fit in the lock.
In the presence of the police, she discovered that the owner of her home, which she had been renting for two years for 720 euros per month, had repossessed the premises.
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“A few weeks before, she had already come with several men and ordered me to leave, which I refused,” she says.
I called the police, who after verifications proved me right.
On leaving, one of them certified me that I was going to leave the place, alive or dead.
Alicia puts down a handrail and checks with her social worker who reassures her by explaining that she is not risking anything.
Corbeil-Essonnes, September 11, 2021. Alicia discovered that all of her belongings had been put in the courtyard of her apartment.
According to the law, a landlord can give leave to the tenant when he decides to sell his accommodation, to live there or for a
"
legitimate and serious"
reason
, for example if the latter does not pay his rent.
But it must comply with formal and deadline conditions.
“He may send a letter of discharge by registered letter or by a bailiff's deed indicating that he is terminating the lease.
But this must be done at least 6 months before its expiration date, ”says a real estate agent.
Alicia claims to have never received the regulatory mail
This mail, Alicia assures to have never received it.
“When I came home and saw my sofas outside, I didn't understand.
That day my son was happy because he had just taken the class photo.
When he saw our things in the yard, he asked me what was going on.
I did not know what to answer him.
The worst part is that a week before, I paid him the rent.
This time Alicia files a trespassing complaint.
But the damage is done.
With her small family, she finds herself without a place to live.
Corbeil-Essonnes, September 11, 2021. The two family sofas have been emptied from the apartment.
The first night, the police took her to a hotel in Évry-Courcouronnes.
Then the family alternates between a social hotel and a hostel.
In the absence of a solution, she even spent two nights in the Corbeil-Essonnes station.
“I haven't slept,” Alicia says.
The municipality offered her a few hotel nights before she was directed to a home in Étampes, which she had to leave no later than 7 am, even on weekends.
"I can't help but cry"
“I took the RER for 2 hours to drop my son off at school.
Then 2 hours by train to go to Yvelines.
It was very difficult.
I only earn 900 euros per month by being a home help.
What little I have left is for my children.
When I see them like that, in the cold, I can't help but cry.
I even thought about abandoning them to give them a better future.
Zohra is small, she doesn't understand everything.
But Alex, he can see how we live.
The last time he was happy because they went to the pool.
When he got home he said to me: I took the opportunity to warm up my body in the shower.
"
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Alicia is a single mother. Without news from dad. His brother returned definitively to Ivory Coast. And she only has an Italian residence permit. “I was hoping to be able to regularize my situation, but the suitcase that contained all my documents, my children's birth certificates and some cash disappeared when I was kicked out. Alicia filed a theft complaint.
Bruno Piriou, the mayor (PCF) of Corbeil (50,000 inhabitants), ensures that the file is closely monitored. "It is out of the question for a resident of my town to sleep in the street," he said indignantly. We took some of his hotel nights at our expense. But this is not the city's jurisdiction and all the social hotels in Corbeil are saturated. At the beginning of December, we are opening an emergency accommodation center. But the situation is even more complicated when there are children. "
The teachers of the school where Alex is educated also follow his course.
“Her teacher calls me every day to find out how it's going.
She is always available to help us, and my son confides in her a lot.
I don't know how to thank her for everything she does.
School is so important.
I did not go further than CE1.
I want a different future for him and his little sister.
"
Alicia and her two children were finally able to return to a social hotel in Corbeil.
They will have a roof over their heads until December 1.
Next ?
“I think about it all the time.
I hope we will find a solution by then.
"
* the first names have been changed
