For accommodation and counseling with respect, openness and dignity

The Accommodation and Integration Center (CHRS) Accueil Provençal of Toulon, open round the clock, 365 days per year, welcomes isolated, homeless adult men.
It occupies the same premises as when it was created in 1955; its capacity of 42 beds is identical, and its mission is unchanged: to fight exclusion.

To do this, the Centre is setting up social counseling for the persons welcomed in order to support and accompany them in a process of integration, rehabilitation and identity reconstruction along six guidelines: access to Rights, health, civic social life, budget, employment and training, and rehousing.

The project aims to create additional bedrooms, adjoining sanitary blocks for emergencies, and a "children" space. Today, the CHRS proposes accommodations for three persons per 15 square m bedroom, which is not enough space and makes them feel hemmed in. By rethinking the distribution of the space as a function of area, it is possible to offer accommodations with two beds in a 12 square m bedroom, enabling the residents to arrange private spaces at their convenience during their residence and to remain in a group dynamic.

Changes in the legal framework require a review of the accommodation conditions

In case of emergencies, independently of the forty-two beds, the CHRS can accommodate three persons in an independent bedroom, adjacent to the cellar, a room abutting the rock, humid, which needs to be renovated and upgraded to standard.
In addition, since the sanitary blocks are located in another part of the building, this means having to leave the building to go to the toilets and showers, so that the temporary residents have a feeling of marginalization, of being welcomed differently from the others and without due consideration.

In the same way, the CHRS wants to provide a "children" space, a studio flat where resident fathers can enjoy visits from their children. This space, furnished accordingly, will be provided to the residents on weekends and, if necessary, on Wednesdays.

The Veolia Foundation is contributing to financing the refurbishing and upgrading operations on the center in this spirit of openness and solidarity.