This empty hotel in Paris is sheltering the homeless
The scheme aims to help break the cycle of homelessness. Image: REUTERS/Charles Platiau
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
Stay up to date:
France
- The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on tourism, leaving hotels across the world with no guests.
- Hotel Avenir Montmartre in Paris is filling empty rooms with rough sleepers.
- Residents receive three meals a day in the hotel's breakfast room, and each room has a television and an en suite shower.
- The scheme is run by the charity, Emmaus Solidarite, which believes the hotel provides a safe base from which the residents can rebuild their lives.
In normal times the Hotel Avenir Montmartre is a tourist magnet with its views of the Eiffel Tower and the Sacre Coeur church, but COVID-19 has scared off the usual guests. Instead, the hotel has opened its doors to the homeless.
The hotel's management have, for a year, handed over their rooms to homeless charity Emmaus Solidarite, which is now using them to accommodate people who would otherwise be on the streets.
If it were not for his room at the hotel, Ibrahim, an asylum seeker from the West African country of Mali, would be bedding down in the restaurant kitchens where he picks up occasional work, or failing that, outdoors.
"When I had just arrived (in Paris), I didn't know anyone. I was moving around temporary housing, sometimes I slept in the kitchen, or beside the garbage can," he said.
"Some days I find a small job, and I earn about 40 euros, 30 euros, 50 euros and I go out. When I find these jobs, I pay for a hotel, which costs 30 euros, to spend the night. But I can't do this all my life."
At the Hotel Avenir Montmartre, the cost of his room is covered by the charity. Residents receive three meals a day in the hotel's breakfast room, and each room has a television and an en suite shower room.
For the charity, the hotel provides a safe base from which they can try to help rebuild residents' lives. The charity is covering the cost with government aid.
Many residents have physical or mental illnesses from living on the street and the trauma they have experienced, said Emmaus general director Bruno Morel. The charity aims to help them break the cycle of homelessness, he said.
"The day I arrived, I said, great!" Ibrahim said of the hotel. "I see the future. The day will come when my life will change."
Don't miss any update on this topic
Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.
License and Republishing
World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
The Agenda Weekly
A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda
You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.
More on Social InnovationSee all
Natalie Pierce
July 10, 2024
Sarah Hewitt
June 25, 2024
Isis Bous and Allison Laubach
June 4, 2024
Adam Gavin
May 31, 2024
Michael Purton
May 29, 2024