2023-05-19 19:32:02
“I’ve never seen that in my life,” laments Hervé, 50, behind his thick white beard. A little over two weeks ago, this father of a large family had to resolve to move to the parking lot of the Intermarché in Villers-Saint-Paul with his wife and five children. At seven, they try to adapt to their new daily life in the old family motorhome. Every corner of the vehicle now accommodates a berth. The penultimate of the siblings sleeps near the steering wheel, just below his two sisters. Elders in front of the hobs. The parents, on the other hand, dismantle the table every evening to fit in a mattress. The family has no running water and relies on a friend for showers and laundry.
If this family had to make a living, stationed there, it is because Hervé recently lost his official accommodation at the same time as his job as caretaker at a nearby campsite. Despite a new bus driver contract, his fixed-term contract does not allow him to find accommodation in the private park, while his wife does not work. “I find it unacceptable that we can’t find accommodation,” he slips. A few meters away, Stéphanie, a supermarket customer, is surprised to see a family living there: “Of course it shocks me, especially in France”. “Five children in a motorhome, it hurts for them, they need an apartment at all costs,” laments Francky, a friend of Hervé.
Their situation could be improved in the coming days since this family should benefit from adapted social housing, about fifty kilometers from Villers-Saint-Paul. “For the children, it is better to have a roof and a house”, rejoices the father of the family. “In years to come they’ll be like, ‘Dad, do you remember when we were in the parking lot, how we got kicked out of the house?’
#VIDEO #lack #housing #family #children #lives #parking #lot #Intermarché