INTERVIEW

Set up in December 2007 at the instigation of the Samusocial charity, the Maison des femmes in the Paris suburb of Montrouge is a shelter for homeless women.  It is open round the clock every day of the week,  has 14 beds,  and caters for women of more than 45 years of age who have fallen through the medical and social security net and are suffering from health problems such as alcoholism or psychiatric disorder.  Situated at the back of a courtyard opposite an emergency shelter for men,  the Maison des femmes consists of two separate buildings.  In the main building there is a kitchen, showers, bathroom, lavatories as well as twin bedrooms and one big bedroom with four beds.  The other building has a television room and Internet access.  Each new arrival is given a towel, toilet bag, sheets, blankets and a lockable wardrobe.   Armelle de Langlement, who is in charge of the shelter, explains.

What was there before the Maison des femmes ?

There was an emergency shelter here for 28 women, situated just as it is today opposite the men’s shelter. But in 2007 the place was turned into what we  call a stabilisation centre to allow better medical and psycho-social care over the longer term.  The idea was to set up a small-scale shelter for just 14 women in order to break the cycle of to-ing and fro-ing between the shelter and the street, and thus help the women back into society.

For how long can one stay at the  Maison des femmes ?

There is no set length of time. What we offer are six month contracts which can be renewed as many times as we think necessary.  We set objectives for the women to try to achieve. These are like a kind of ‘residence contract’ which defines what needs to be done so that their situation can evolve, and it’s drawn up in accordance with their individual capacities, their past history and of course their own desires.   The goals we set could be linked to their social or administrative situation, or it could be a question of taking care to improve their appearance.  If they want, we offer meetings with external social workers, or specialists in alcohol and drug addiction.  The idea is not to do everything here, but to get them out into the public sphere.

Why six month contracts ?

We think six months is the minimum period in which the work can really take effect.   But if the person wants to leave earlier, she can. We will try to persuade them not to go, but that kind of decision is entirely their own.

What are the different stages in a period of residence ?

The first job is re-establishing the space-time norms that have been disrupted on the street. Here for the first time the women know they can sleep in a continuous stretch, without fear of being robbed or attacked.  When they move in, a lot of the women sleep long into the morning because their bodies need to recuperate.  They learn to rest, to get a daily rhythm into their lives, as well as proper food and ordinary hygiene. It’s a way of relearning the habits of everyday life : how to look after the home, keep clean, wash one’s clothes, take part in the centre’s routine. The aim is for the women to take control of their own recovery and thus of their own future.  Our job as helpers is to try to give them the incentives to act,  to make them want to do it.  We offer all-round support, with the help if necessary of an aesthetician, a psychiatric nurse or a doctor.  We also use  arts therapy, especially drawing, singing and playing musical instruments.  At our residents’ meetings, sometimes the workshops we offer don’t appeal to the women, who have other things they want to do like jewellery-making or sewing. Feeling at home in a group means having confidence in oneself and in those around you. Despite what we offer them, some of the women prefer to spend their days outside the centre,  because they feel more at home there.

What sort of people use the centre ?

We only take in women over the age of 45. The average age is 55.  They are people already well-known to the Paris  Samusocial .  Some have been on their books since 1993, when Samusocial was set up. The Maison des femmes offers them a new way of coming to terms with their future.

Do you know their life stories ?  At what point generally have things started to fall apart ?

For most of them the root of it all is a break-up with a partner.  They had a home of their own, and then there were problems.  Sometimes there are also emotional traumas that go back to childhood.  One by one the things that kept them together disintegrate : home, family, their money, job.  And when one of those pillars collapses, the others tend to follow.

Is it more dangerous for a woman than for a man on the street ?

Women are obviously more vulnerable to physical attack than men.  They can very rapidly get into danger.  There are the physical assaults, but there is also the aggressive attitude that comes from passers-by.  It is both difficult and dangerous to assert one’s feminity on the street.  At the centre we try to get them to come to terms with their femininity, or even to learn all over again what it is to be a woman.  It’s for that reason that we took the decision not to have an exclusively female team of helpers.  Seeing male staff allows the women to restore their view  of men, which may have been seriously damaged.

Why did you personally choose to get involved in the centre’s work ?

I have always worked in the field of social care. It’s what I was trained to do. I have answered the emergency phone for the Samusocial. I have worked in a home for young mothers.  Also helping physcally and mentally disabled people find work.  And with children in care centres.  I reckon I always wanted to work with people, helping others in their daily lives.  There is something very real about the relationships you build up. There is absolutely nothing superficial about it.