This is one of the components of the recovery plan. The government will pay ” before summer “ 100 million euros to associations fighting against poverty, to help them “Prime” or deploy new solidarity projects, announced Tuesday, April 13, the Minister of Solidarity, Olivier Véran.
The action of associations is “Decisive so that this epidemic crisis is not added to human tragedies”, underlined the minister. According to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, 35% of the poorest households had perceived a deterioration in their standard of living after the first confinement.
The sum will be distributed among associations that responded to the call for tenders launched in November by the government. Thirty-three projects have been selected at the national level, which will share a third of the overall envelope. The remainder, ie 66.5 million euros, has been or will be allocated to 576 regional projects.
In total, 2,600 applications had been submitted as part of this call for tenders which was initially to take place in two stages: the government had planned to release 50 million euros this year, then 50 million, the year next.
“Go fast and hard”
In front of ” big success “ of the operation, the Minister finally “Decided to release all of the 100 million in one go, to go fast and hard”, explained his cabinet. “We put the turbo: the associations will have the credits before the summer”, we assured the same source.
The 33 national projects selected relate to food aid, support for social and professional integration, access to rights, or even support for families and educational support.
This involves, for example, creating partnerships between organic market gardeners and emergency food aid systems, or developing groups for the purchase of organic or fair trade products in working-class neighborhoods. “Bulk” (in order to limit packaging).
Funds to start new projects
Other measures aim to develop car-sharing, carpooling or solidarity transport, to help people in need of getting around. The association La cravate solidaire, which provides a suit and coaching to unemployed people for their job interview, will expand its actions in new regions.
Emmaus France will set up a “Reception frame” for poor families with children, and the WeTechCare association will be able to train social workers in digital tools, which will “Indirectly to promote these tools to precarious audiences”.
With the funds from this mechanism, associations must “Prime” projects or “Modernize” their actions, but will have to find other sources of funding to ensure their functioning in the longer term, explained the interministerial delegation for the fight against poverty.
For example, those who provide food to the poorest will be able to buy new trucks, but the funds from the call for projects cannot be used to finance the food itself.