In the heart of the Moulins district, west of Nice, planters are filling up on slabs that have just been installed. “A building had been destroyed and it had become a point of deal. With the young people and the associations of the district, we are in the process of rehabilitating this place to make it a patio”, presents Louise Caburet, responsible for the Kaps project within the Afev (Association for the student foundation of the city) of Nice .
These young people she is talking about are between 18 and 22 years old. They were selected from around a hundred candidates to benefit from the Kaps program, the Koloc’ for solidarity projects which has been developed in more than 30 cities in France in ten years. “We live in the green tower”, shows Guillaume, “kapseur” and in civic service in the association. With Mathieu and Hugo, they have lived together since August 2021 where each pays a maximum of 180 euros in rent, not including the possibility of APL, in a town where it usually takes around 600 euros for a studio.
Mentorship for neighborhood youth
This Thursday morning, they are preparing to go and put up posters throughout the neighborhood. “We noticed that we always had super beautiful sunsets with magnificent pink colors. Everyone has photos from their building window, specifies Hugo, who comes from Lille. We want to make an exhibition! Before going to put up their ad, they have an appointment with an association that has a shared garden. These “citizen investment” times are part of the contract. The consideration for benefiting from this very attractive rent is to get involved in the life of the neighborhood alongside the inhabitants.
“It’s five hours a week, including two hours of mentoring with children aged 5 to 18, whether it’s academic or cultural support,” says Louise. Since September, they have spent some of their mornings in an airy center, collecting waste, creating small Olympics. A football tournament project is also in the works.
For Mathieu, a student of German letters and originally from Auxerre, “it was the association aspect that prompted him to sign up for the project”. “My mother is president of an association so it has always interested me,” he explains. Hugo, who had never worked with children before, adds: “We have a good cohesion with the little ones. We try to bring them together through activities to strengthen their ties. And we’re going to show them that there’s something other than their neighborhood. »
Priorities that evolve
The manager salutes the investment of her “kapseurs” because “motivation is really important to be recruited”. “We know that the neighborhood does not make people want to because in interviews, we often have people who have done research on Google and who have found unflattering articles”. Mathieu resumes: “We quickly change our minds. It’s a city within a city. So once everyone knows you, life is good.”
“It’s funny because even in the local businesses, it really feels like family. If we need anything, we are welcomed everywhere”, adds Guillaume before Hugo adds: “It takes a good month for you to be spotted and integrated. But indeed, it’s two rooms, two atmospheres, between Nice center and Les Moulins. The atmosphere is not the same. »
For the moment, only one apartment has been found for this Kaps, which works in collaboration with the city of Nice and the Côte d’Azur habitat landlord. “We hope to be able to open other flatshares for a dozen new “kapseurs” at the start of the next school year. The idea is to also go to the center and rue Trachel and towards Pasteur. It also has to be places with the tram to have easy access to the different universities,” says Louise. In Cannes, the project has been in place since the start of the 2020 school year following a request from the city and now welcomes eleven roommates.