The association had nine local sections, but nine days ago, the Dudelange section ceased its activities due to "issues with the executive branch". The president of the association, which counts over 8,000 members, has even acknowledged that the association is struggling financially.
The closure of the Dudelange branch suggests further difficulties within the not for profit association. According to Viviane Reuter, who had been president of the Dudelange branch until 26 January, the closure of the Foyer de la Femme in Dudelange suggests it is failing in its purpose to support poor women. She criticised that instead of helping and supporting poor women, the association had "travelled the world." Reuter and the Dudelange branch had been unwilling to support a travel agent's, she explained.
According to Reuter, for the last seven to eight years, she had not received any information from the executive branch despite meeting with the national president Lily Gansen years ago. At that meeting, the topic of selling the association's Belgian property in Lombardsijde had come up. As a result, people spent Christmas in a hotel on the Belgian coast. Reuter explained that she wanted to sell the property built in 1928 as it was too far from the coast and did not provide the women the association is meant to be supporting with the actual sense of being on holiday at the beach. Reuter was adamant that the Dudelange branch received no support whatsoever despite its outlined issues.
The sale of the house has yet to happen, which led Gansen to acknowledge the association's financial difficulties. Gansen implied that the current government is not adequately supporting Foyer de la Femme. That said, she denied the accusations from Reuter, claiming instead that the Dudelange branch's dissolution was in no way tied to the executive branch.
In response to Reuter, Gansen explained that she had sat in on local committee meetings to resolve issues and claimed that not all the association's members were critical of its travels.
Despite Gansen's implications about the lack of governmental support, it does appear that those members of the government responsible for the association are aware of its difficulties. The association had requested funds to finance a project in La Panne years ago. According to ministers Corinne Cahen and Claude Meisch, the association appears to have indebted itself and does not have the funds for the purchase or renovations. Both politicians explained that is as much as they know concerning the struggling association.
