Environment and Biodiversity
Place
France
Sponsor
Philippe Alonso
Grant(s)
22,000 € to the Selection Committee at 2005/05/31
Project leader
Solidarité Habitat
« Job-seekers without stable accommodation will always struggle to find employment. By assisting tenants in this way, the association is playing a key role in helping them find work. »
Philippe Alonso
Disadvantaged families are often faced with the classic vicious circle: no job means no decent accommodation but no accommodation means no job. In the face of this acknowledged social problem, estate agents with a social integration remit have started to spring up all over France. "Solidarité habitat Ile-de-France" is one such estate agent. Created in 1999 by housing and town planning associations together with "Solidaritoit", its four staff manage 350 accommodation units with support from a large number of volunteers.
More than just managing rents.
Its work is not restricted to management of the property base. To help disadvantaged tenants to combat social and professional exclusion, it provides personalised monitoring, with a particular focus on finances together with assistance from a social worker where required. For instance, should a tenant experience difficulties, "Solidarité habitat Ile-de-France" proposes flexible payments spread over time, inexpensive insurance and assistance from intermediary associations if building work proves necessary.
Faced with a growing demand for this type of housing solution, the association plans to develop (by increasing its accommodation base to 420 units within two years), without any corresponding rise in the number of personnel or volunteers. It plans to acquire a special software packaged designed for management of rental accommodation in partnership with "Régie Nouvelle", a Lyon-based association which manages 1,100 units. The new software package will be installed on a server based in Lyon, which will require "Solidarité habitat Ile-de-France" to purchase new (or very recent) computers which are compatible with this new management solution. The software package will manage all the association's tasks as well as facilitating monitoring of housing benefit, reimbursement schedules, payment of supplier invoices, etc.
Alongside the Fondation de France, the Veolia foundation has decided to contribute 22,000 euros towards the purchase of this new computer hardware.