In the Loire, the Secours Catholique de Nogent-sur-Vernisson helps more and more people in difficult situations.

In premises next to the town hall of Nogent-sur-Vernisson, a small town of 2,500 inhabitants in the canton of Montargis (Loiret), the Catholic service Secours opens an office on Tuesday mornings every two weeks, alternating with the nearby Chatillon aerial. -Coligny. This morning, early April, volunteers are handing out monthly service vouchers, capped at €10 per person due to the growing number of beneficiaries.

In this isolated and very large area, insecurity is hitting a growing number of households hard: mothers raising their children alone, some young people who are unemployed or in training and facing mobility problems, many pensioners or fifty-year-olds who have recently lost their jobs .

“The deteriorating economy has intensified this phenomenon.”

“About ten years ago in two communes we saw 5 or 6 families. Since the Covid crisis, we have received around sixty people,” admits Marie-Thérèse Pomme, team leader at Nogent-sur-Vernisson for about ten years.

“People who were already working in a rather unstable situation found themselves with nothing. In Châtillon-Coligny, a more commercial village than here, many shops never opened. » The remaining employees were never able to return to another location.

In recent months, the general deterioration of the economy under the influence of food and energy price inflation, going hand in hand with the end of the decline in unemployment, has intensified this phenomenon: “We have doubled the number of support measures in a year. ” notes Emmanuel Barbier, the charity’s regional representative, who is struggling to cope with the resurgent needs of the entire department.

“The growth we see here is true in other places, both rural and urban. Last year we distributed the equivalent of €190,000 in social assistance, compared to an average of €120,000. We will not be able to absorb this increase indefinitely,” he warns.

“To eat, this help is necessary”

That day, a 54-year-old disabled woman went to the Catholic Security Services office with her two grandchildren to receive a service voucher. This former industrial dry cleaning employee, unemployed since 2012, survives on €600 a month: “I just have no choice. This help is necessary for food.” The increase in her rent has further weakened the situation for this fifty-year-old woman who would like to find a part-time job.

“Due to my disability, I cannot work more hours. But my age does not make it easier for me,” explains the mother of six daughters humbly. Last year she benefited from a food distribution from Restos du coeur. “I stopped to avoid traveling because of gas prices. And since I was completely alone, I was given only vegetables and no meat, unlike families with children. I came back with almost nothing.”

At City Hall, not a week goes by without Maryse Trippier, vice president of CCAS, receiving a call for help from new people with a similar profile.