In December 1985, faced with the rise of "new poverty", the congregation of a Baptist Protestant parish in Lille opened a day centre for homeless people living on the streets; the initiative came from the minister David Berly and a handful of activists.

To begin with the initiative got underway in winter on a double-decker bus and it was run exclusively by volunteers. The association recruits its volunteers from both Catholic and Protestant parishes, in an attempt to bridge the religious divide. The association catered to the needs of 330 people during the first winter. This initiative led to a great surge of solidarity among both the people of Lille and numerous public and private companies.

At the time there were a number of initiatives aimed at the homeless being run by associations but these were on a purely one-off basis and there were no links between them. What ABEJ-Lille realised was that overall care needed to be provided, from a centre open during the day. This is how the first day centre for people with no fixed abode came about in Lille. The idea was copied a few years later and then spread all over France.

Right from the start, the ABEJ-Lille understood that it had to aim at two targets simultaneously: coming up with immediate responses to people’s needs and offering long-term social support to help people to get off the streets. The on-the-spot team is made up of a full-time manager, numerous reception staff who take over from one another throughout the day, and a social worker and a doctor who hold a surgery lasting for 1 to 2 hours every day. The initiative lasted for 4 months the first year, 6 months the second and became permanent from December 1987 onwards.
The association took on its first employees during 1988.

Over the years the ABEJ-Lille has created new services in order to provide a better response to whatever needs it identifies: vocational integration activities, health and rehousing initiatives, administering the RMI (minimum benefit payment), accommodation, preventive initiatives, etc.
And that’s not all…