“We slept at the Gare de Lyon.
We were unable to reach you yesterday.
At the end of the line, the voice seems exhausted.
It is that of Nadia
(the first name has been changed)
, 22 years old, eight months pregnant.
“I can hardly walk anymore,” she adds.
I am very afraid to give birth in the street.
»
Helmet on the ears and gaze fixed on her computer screen, Claire Borsoni tries to reassure her.
“It's very saturated but we will do our best to help you”, assures him this “listening” from the Samu Social de Paris.
It's almost noon on Tuesday.
Behind the windows, the rain falls rhythmically on Ivry-sur-Seine (Val-de-Marne).
Several rows of desks are lined up against a backdrop of blue carpet and white walls.
They are a dozen riveted to their post.
A peak at 38,000 calls over 24 hours
It is here — in this long room — that all calls to 115 from Paris arrive.
An uninterrupted stream of distress, suffering and anger pours over the fifty or so listeners who take turns there.
There is still hope behind the three digits of this national number, located by department: that of having a roof over your head to face the next night.
Read also Homeless families spend the night with “solidarity hosts” in Paris: “It is not possible for them to sleep outside”
A red "100%" flashes on one of the black screens hanging from the ceiling.
“It means that it saturates, translates Soreya Oulmas, the manager of 115 Paris.
Users who try to reach us receive a voice message inviting them to call back later.
»
Nothing exceptional here.
On average, listeners respond to 1,000 calls per day… Out of the more than 20,000 that accumulate in vain on the lines.
“There is a short moment of respite between 11 p.m. and 5:30 a.m., but otherwise it saturates all the time,” laments Soreya Oulmas.
However, in recent weeks, these figures – already dizzying – have exploded.
A peak of 38,000 calls was even recorded last Friday.
A particularly worrying situation as winter approaches.
“We are facing unprecedented activity, with a significant increase in the number of calls from families with children,” confirms Sabrina Boulefrad, director of the Integrated Reception and Orientation Service (SIAO) in Paris.
This service brings together the 115 as well as a housing center dedicated to emergency accommodation requests received through social workers, and another which manages the coordination of marauding.
No emergency accommodation for more than 1,200 people
Difficult, in these conditions, to ensure an already impossible mission: the shelter of the homeless or in a situation of great precariousness who survive in the capital.
The SIAO is responsible for regulating “accommodation and integration housing places financed by the State”.
About 42,000 currently exist in hotels or in structures spread throughout Île-de-France.
Single women or men, but also families, are welcomed there for one or more nights.
"Since July, we have lost between 1,000 and 1,200 places in hotels," says Sabrina Boulefrad.
In question: the resumption of tourist activity and the preparation of the Paris Olympics in 2024. To prepare for it, many hoteliers choose to recover the nights they reserved until now for emergency accommodation.
Read alsoIn Paris, families dislodged from social hotels due to the resumption of tourist activity
“The State should compensate for all these cuts by creating places in accommodation centres, continues the director of SIAO.
But it takes time.
There is the difficulty of finding land in Île-de-France, the deadlines for starting the work…”
Added to this is a long traffic jam to move into social housing.
“3,200 households occupying emergency accommodation places are awaiting relocation,” says Sabrina Boulefrad.
Not to mention - for some - the administrative delays in obtaining papers, getting a job and getting off the street.
In the meantime, the word "emergency" is gradually losing its meaning in the corridors of 115. Every day, more than 1,200 people do not get a temporary roof by dialing this number, including nearly 1,000 who are with family.
“We have a prioritization grid with vulnerability criteria, recalls Sabrina Boulefrad.
But they are almost obsolete.
We find ourselves with women coming out of the maternity ward with their infants whom we cannot accommodate for lack of space.
»
“You have to protect yourself, otherwise you cry all the time”
A feeling of powerlessness that often agitates Claire Borsoni's nights.
“When I'm in my bed and I hear gusts of wind or rain, I dread the next day which will be even more complicated, blows this attentive 29-year-old contractor.
I know there will be more distress on the phone.
»
However, this former student in psychology knows it, “you have to protect yourself well to do this job, otherwise you cry all the time”.
Claire Borsoni still remembers "the violence" of her first week at 115 in September 2021. She has gradually "got used to" since.
“Now, I take more time to inform, to ask if it's okay, she insists.
At least I'm really listening, it takes the frustration out of me.
»
A "difficult" job with sometimes staggered hours for which the salary is around 1,800 euros gross per month at the start of your career.
"It does not represent our average level of study, nor the arduous nature of this profession", believes Claire.
Last Tuesday, the 115 of France mobilized to ask to benefit, too, from the bonus of 183 euros net per month which was granted to certain social workers.
Nadia just hung up.
Claire gave her addresses to meet a social worker and to find clothes for her baby.
She also registered her accommodation request.
But the young pregnant woman will have to wait several more hours before knowing whether or not she will be able to sleep in the shelter the same evening.