Today the Alefpa Le Manteau association helps around 675 people in need (mainly financial) in Saint-Martin. This figure should increase rapidly with the establishment of a new activity, that of an itinerant solidarity grocery store. Since the beginning of September, a van has been traveling the roads of the French part to sell dry and hygiene products 70% cheaper than in a supermarket. The objective of this new initiative is to help another public in difficulty.
Until then, the association supported the most vulnerable people by offering them "food aid" in the form of a meal or a package including food for two weeks. Beneficiaries must meet certain criteria, including that of having resources lower than the “remainder to live”, estimated between 150 and 300 euros. "We distribute between 30 and 40 parcels per week", confides Audrey Gil, the director of the association, who also noticed that people with "left to live" were in an equally delicate situation, if not more. more strained with the health crisis.
Audrey Gil and her team thus sought to see how they could help this audience. Their desire is to provide material financial support to people who have debts and who try as best they can to pay it off with a minimum of income. This is how the idea of the solidarity grocery store came about. “People buy products at 30% of their price in a store so that they can save money and thus pay off their debts, buy a new appliance if theirs breaks down, etc. For example, for a 160-euro cart, they will only spend 46 euros, ”explains the director of Alefpa Le Manteau, who, to set up this project, approached the national association for the development of solidarity-based grocery stores. (Andes), which has developed a network of 450 stores in mainland France in twenty years, helping some 200 people per year.
In Saint-Martin, the solidarity grocery store already supports around twenty families, or an average of thirty people. By the end of the year, the Mantle expects to help some thirty additional households. As with food aid, people wishing to benefit from these services must register and meet certain conditions. "They are spotted by the social workers of the Pôle Solidarité Famille, and fill out a file which is examined by a commission made up of representatives of our association, social workers and CAF which is a real partner in this project", specifies Audrey Gil . People whose file is validated have a card that they must present when making their purchases.
“By setting up this solidarity grocery store, we also wanted to help people who cannot travel or who cannot afford it. This is why we have chosen to do an itinerant grocery store and not within our premises in Marigot ”, explains the director. A desire that required the acquisition of a van and the creation of two jobs. “We have adapted the vehicle accordingly, which has been moving around the neighborhoods since the beginning of September,” adds Audrey Gil. Depending on the needs, a tour program will be developed; the goal being that the truck can go regularly in the neighborhoods and park in strategic places.
In addition to the purchase of the vehicle, the Alefpa Le Manteau must finance the purchase of the products from its own budget. He thus received a grant from the Collectivity, the Fondation de France and the Andes association. This project is also part of the plan to fight against poverty led by the State, which granted a subsidy of 52 euros in addition to that of 000 euros granted last year under the Policy of City.
The solidarity grocery store was inaugurated last Friday by the various partners.
This year the Manteau ALEFPA also received a subsidy of € 180 awarded in the form of an agreement co-signed on August 000 by the prefect of Saint-Martin and the president of the ALEFPA. It will cover the purchase of food for collective catering (daytime reception for the excluded and night reception of 2 places for single women or with children from the CHRS), the purchase of basic necessities for food packages distributed to families. in great difficulty and the operating costs of the mobile solidarity grocery store.
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