Fighting against student precarity and social isolation

Supported by the Lyon 3 Sustainable Development - L3DD, student association and backed by Jean Moulin University and numerous partners, the Episcia social and solidarity grocery shop aims to fight against food and social precarity by offering students from the Lyon metropole in financial difficulty the means to eat healthily by buying food, hygiene and cleaning products with no restrictions and at reduced prices.


Designed as a place for student life, it also offers a space for welcome, conviviality and exchange, encouraging meaningful human relations.
 
The objectives of Episcia
 

• To offer participatory food aid for a fixed period of time
• To promote social links by fighting isolation
• To prevent precarity and students falling into extreme poverty
• To accompany and support students in their efforts to become autonomous
• To promote self-confidence
• To help students acquire healthy eating habits
• To avoid stigmatising students in a situation of precarity and to promote equality

 

How can I benefit?

To access Episcia, you must:
 

• Be a student
• Study in an area within Grand Lyon
• Have a maximum disposable income* of €8 per day (i.e., €240/month)
• Have a project that will be made possible with the savings from the grocery shop (e.g., getting a driving licence, paying off a debt, financing cultural activities, buying a computer, etc.)

* “Disposable income” is the money left for living expenses (food and clothing) at the end of the month after paying for all fixed expenses (rent, water, electricity, transport, etc.).


► Do you meet these requirements?

Complete an application form (french version) and send it to the following address: epiceriel3dd@gmail.com

The admission committee, consisting of at least one social worker, the head of the grocery shop and the university’s medical director, meets once a month to examine applications. If you are approved, you will be admitted to the grocery shop for one semester.

Renewal: at the end of the period, your situation will be reassessed by a social worker. If the situation requires it, access may be renewed for a maximum of two semesters. Beyond that, a waiting period of three months will be required before a new application can be made.