WECO# Montreuil
The Weco Montreuil project, led by the association Quatorze, aims at rehousing the families now living in the shantytown of 15b rue Saint Antoine. In cooperation with the association Lieux Possibles in terms of access to rights, the association Acina in terms of the inhabitants’ career path, the Abbé Pierre foundation in terms of partnership strategy, and the Montreuil town hall in terms of residential development, this project demonstrates that a peaceful reintegration of a shantytown is possible, following the three transversal axes of the Weco programme.
Securing and equipping the existing shantytown
The first improvements to the shantytown were carried out in 2014-2015. They enabled the inhabitants to improve their living conditions: water and electricity were installed, toilets and sanitary facilities were built, as well as a workshop for monitoring children’s schooling. The developments carried out with the inhabitants on the plot have been the subject of a fully-fledged territorial development project: ”Autour des Murs”
Professional integration
Quatorze was able to employ some of the inhabitants during these first improvement projects (see Autour des Murs). This dynamic of promoting fair employment and accompanying the inhabitants in their access to rights has enabled families to stabilise their income. This in turn has allowed them to meet the criteria for access to housing. The re-housing of families by the Montreuil town hall has begun: to date, three families have been re-housed and have been able to create new homes outside of the shantytown.
Solidarity-based real estate development
In order to make up for the lack of affordable housing to rehouse the people living in the shantytown of 15bis, the Quatorze association, accompanied by the city of Montreuil and the Weco Invest cooperative, has created a tool to rehabilitate a nearby vacant lot. The Société Coopérative d’Intérêt Collectif Weco Montreuil will carry out its first operation at 25 rue de la Nouvelle France in Montreuil in 2020. The objective of the Weco Montreuil project is to demonstrate that the reabsorption of the shantytown at 15bis rue Saint Antoine is an opportunity to reinforce the solidarity dynamics in the neighbourhood, through the creation of a socially mixed housing habitat.
