The beginning of the lobbying

Despite the abundance of private donations, the perpetual search for the next centime becomes a hassle. Yet the Abbé Pierre doesn’t throw in the towel. During the early days of what seems to be a particularly harsh winter, with his companions, he drives around Paris in a van filled with blankets and food for the homeless. One day when the dying vehicle breaks down again, the Abbé asks his friend Robert Buron, MP of the Mayenne, to lend him his car and to come with him “on tour”. Stunned, the deputy becomes more and more aware.

That some people sleep directly on the sidewalks of Paris, under the bridges, on the quays of the Seine. The Abbé Pierre explains to his friend the MP, that this is the proof that the Solidarity momentum will not be enough. In exceptional circumstances, the State must intervene. With this in mind, in December 1953, the Abbé contacts his friend the senator Léo Hamon. Convinced by his determination, the senator proposes to push through the creation of “emergency estates” in the Assembly.