Entourage, a citizen support network for homeless people
A cell phone application that puts homeless people in contact with other people in the neighborhood or city, to break the spiral of loneliness in which they find themselves and their lack of social relationships.
Entourage is a collaborative network that strengthens the community contacts of homeless people, since the lack of relationships, invisibility and little attention are elements that prevent them from living a life of dignity. In addition, it helps to fight stereotypes, fear and lack of knowledge among citizens about how to act in this type of situation.
The application also has a solidarity guide that offers geolocated information on associations that offer services to the group. Entourage does not intend to be a network of only material help, but a network of egalitarian relationships that allows the humanization of both parties.
Entourage also ensures the protection of the data of the people who participate, as well as the obligatory nature of consent when creating a solidarity action towards the people who receive help. In addition, it has a system of moderation and verification of profiles that can delete content if it is not appropriate.
Characteristics of innovation
Localization
France (Paris, Lyon, Grenoble, l’Îlle, Rennes)
Partners/Funders
Groupe SeLoger, Gouvernement de France, Impact 2024
Genesis
The Entourage project was born in 2012 on the initiative of Jean-Marc Potdevin, a person who met homeless people every day on his way to work, whom he began to meet and establish a bond. From this he became aware of their concerns and needs, as well as the lack of links suffered by people at risk of social exclusion. The existing social network works adequately in terms of medical devices, associations working in food services, temporary accommodation, etc. but it is lacking in terms of relationships and links to which these people have access.
That is why from 2014 the Entourage project took its first steps as an association and in 2015 the first version of the mobile application was released. It began to operate in Paris, and currently operates in 4 other French cities, with more and more participants and solidarity actions carried out.
Level of implementation
The application is working in five French cities: Paris, Grenoble, Îlle, Rennes and Lyon.
More than 130,000 people have joined the collaborative network, and more than 17,000 solidarity actions have been created. In addition, more than 15,000 people have been sensitized through its events.
