Residents of the city have come together to help a woman in distress who shows symptoms of psychiatric disorders.
On this scorching morning, the market is bustling at the Place des Découvertes in Noisy-le-Sec, Seine-Saint-Denis. Behind a row of stalls, a makeshift camp is set up on the ground. A woman with gray hair is lying on a worn mattress against the window of a closed shop. A few meters away, her suitcase is wedged between two overturned pallets.
«We’ll give her some time to come to herself,» whispers Clément. With Murielle, another resident of the city, he has joined the Main dans la main collective that is trying to help Meryem*. This Thursday, they plan to address the city hall during the municipal council meeting to demand a «stable and suitable» housing for this woman in her forties.
After a few minutes, Meryem sits on the edge of her mattress. She says she has «grown up» in this city and has been homeless «for a long time» without once averting her gaze. When asked if she is feeling better, she replies with a brief «I’m okay» that her tired face struggles to make believable. She won’t say more today.
According to members of the collective, Meryem has been suffering from psychiatric disorders since the 10 years she has been homeless and separated from her husband. «She sometimes has episodes during which we saw her screaming or pulling her hair out,» Murielle recalls. This resident of Noisy-le-Sec for 66 years remembers «being scared to help her at first» before reminding herself «that we couldn’t leave a woman alone on the streets».
The creation of their collective came after an assault Meryem suffered last April. «A man violently beat her with a belt in the middle of the street,» Murielle exclaims, not ruling out the existence of other assaults.
The members of the collective ensure that «her condition is improving». Since her one-month hospitalization at Villa Evrard, Meryem receives monthly care from a traveling nurse. During this period, Murielle and Clément were worried about losing track of her.
«Everyone is trying to help her in their own way,» explains Murielle, pointing successively to the suitcase, the phone, and the clothes offered by residents and shopkeepers of Noisy-le-Sec. Murielle and Clément start transferring Meryem’s belongings into a clean bag when Faroudja arrives. This young woman, also a member of the collective, explains «I can’t help but cry when I pass by here where she sleeps».
The Communal Social Welfare Center where Meryem came to get food vouchers on Tuesday notes the lack of overnight accommodation facilities for homeless people in Noisy-le-Sec. «We started a fundraiser that allowed us to pay for four nights in hotels for her,» Clément explains, mentioning that «the CIC, where she used to sleep, now closes its doors at night».
«The city is out of touch,» complains Faroudja, who accuses the city hall of not wanting to work with the collective. On its part, the municipality claims to be in contact with Meryem’s daughter – with whom she recently reconnected – and the municipal services to find a solution.
«The city has already helped and supported several homeless people without it being publicized,» continues the city hall, highlighting its difficulty in helping Meryem who «often breaks the connection». Two years ago, its services obtained a court-ordered hospitalization measure for her.
These measures are not enough for the three members of the collective who begin to bid farewell to Meryem. The Main dans la main collective will go to the city hall this Thursday at the municipal council meeting of Nois-le-Sec to exercise their right to address concerns and demand housing solutions for Meryem. «We’ve nearly exhausted all possible options,» Clément laments as he walks away from the camp.
* The name has been changed
Lors du prochain conseil municipal prévu ce jeudi, un groupe de résidents de la ville va adresser une demande à la mairie pour trouver un logement stable. Lors du conseil municipal prévu ce jeudi, le collectif Main dans la main va demander à la mairie de trouver un logement stable pour Meryem.
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