Françoise and Dominique appeal for help. This couple of artists in great precariousness find themselves almost on the street, after various scams and a hasty move.
The last two years have not been kind to Françoise and Dominique. In 2020, the couple still lived on rue des Martyrs, the bucolic street that climbs towards the Sacré-Coeur, in the 9th arrondissement of Paris.
For eleven years, Françoise distinguished herself as a ventriloquist on the Cauet program on NRJ, and as an actress in the theaters of the capital. Dominique is a professional guitarist offering his services to whoever wants it. Tired of the tumult of Parisian life, the two 60-year-old lovebirds decide to settle in Cergy in the suburbs, before moving further away to Saint-Quentin, in Picardy. It was in the Aisne sub-prefecture that their destiny changed and they fell from Charybde to Scylla. The owner of their apartment turns out to be a sleep dealer, whom they will recognize as such much too late.
When they decide to move to Lille, this same owner takes care of finding them accommodation. They land in an unsanitary apartment in Marcq-en-Baroeul, a daily witness to large-scale drug trafficking. “It had become dangerous for us to live there,” explains Françoise. To top it off, Dominique is the victim of identity theft and insurance fraud by their landlord.
The only condition to welcome us was to give up our cat. It is unthinkable.
A few weeks ago, the couple left everything overnight. The prospect of a potential job that awaits Madame in Toulouse, in the pyrotechnics sector, the facts cross the country. Arrived on Monday, August 9 in the city of Ingres with their 22-year-old cat (!) under his arm, their situation is however going from bad to worse. Spouses find themselves penniless, without landmarks, isolated and above all without housing solutions.
After a night in the forest, they now live in a truck
Faced with the seriousness of the situation, Françoise called 115, the social emergency service which helps people unable to find housing. These calls are in vain, his interlocutors systematically refusing to assist them. “The only condition to welcome us was to give up our cat,” says Françoise. “It’s unthinkable. After spending a few nights in a budget hotel, the couple find themselves unable to pay. So here they are on the street for a night, which they will spend in a small forest away from Montauban.
” It was horrible. We felt like pariahs,” says Dominique. “We are sixty years old today, it is not normal to be there. Françoise, for her part, feels “an impression of swimming against the tide. They have since been housed in a truck fitted out by an employee of the Montalbanais hotel in which they arrived, but their situation remains extremely precarious. “The CCAS (Communal Center for Social Action, Editor’s note) does not want to do anything for us. Neither does 115. It is a deliberate choice on their part not to take the animals. It allows them to keep the marginalized, the homeless and all those they do not want to see in Montauban” denounces the actress.
While waiting for her job to start in Toulouse, Françoise and her husband are condemned to a life of misery, and to count on the help of those who cross their path. “We’re not going to stay here forever. We have never been late in paying our rents, we have always managed, but we absolutely need housing. We call on everyone’s solidarity. »