The Non-Eviction Letter

Background

In France, tenant evictions are officially prohibited from November until the end of March, because of the winter truce. But once it’s over, thousands of families are forced to leave their own homes, without relocation solutions. On the 31th March, the official end of the winter truce, Médecins du Monde (Doctors of the World), an association that provides medical care to the world’s most vulnerable people, wanted to alert the French government about the situations of the homeless and underhoused in France. So, Médecins du Monde wanted to confront President Emmanuel Macron with his promise (offering a roof to all those who don’t have one) and make the government react.

Idea

Receiving a letter, proves that you have a home. But you can also evict you from it, if you cannot afford to pay your rent. How can you make the government put themselves in the place of those who receive the evictions letters ? In a world disconnected from reality by an abundance of digital media only a real letter can confront the government with a tangible reality: the fear of being evicted from your own home. The idea was to make its members feel this fear, sending them an envelope where they could see written : eviction letter. After having opened it, they could see the hidden part of the letters titled : NON (-eviction letter). A video was also created to make their operation more visible on social media and to ask an answer from the president with #NoHealthWithoutARoof (#PasDeSanteSansToit). For this operation, Médecins du Monde targeted especially the French president Emmanuel Macron and also the French government (like representatives who are also doctors, the health minister, and the minister of housing) with more than 95 letters. Also 198 journalists and 55 influencers/celebrities that are sensitive to this cause. In the letters, they were asked to share it on their social networks to put pressure on the president and oblige him to react.

Results

There were some posts about the reception letters, before the video was posted. On all social media, there were more than 400 000 views on the video after 5 days. In total, more than 1 million people were reached by the operation and 400 000 people have seen the video (views, likes, shares). Four days after the Médecins du Monde’s speech, the government reacted at the National Assembly, reaffirming its commitment to fight homelessness.