Their names are Axelle, Elise or Viktoria. They are between 23 and 34 years old and for about a month, they have been living together in a beautiful 400 m2 house, fully equipped and tastefully decorated, in the Longchamp district of Nantes. Fratries, that’s its name, could be a roommate like any other, where you laugh a lot and sing Celine Dion. With the difference that half of the ten young people who make it up have a mental handicap.
A “society project” presented as unique in France when even if initiatives are emerging, the majority of these audiences are still destined to stay with their parents, for lack of suitable accommodation solutions. “We realized that despite their disability, many want to live and work in an ordinary environment,” says Aurélien L’Hermitte, who founded Fratries with Emmanuel de Carayon, previously involved in the development of Cafés Joyeux. The aim is to help them find their place in society, while tackling another problem, that of the isolation from which more and more young people suffer. »
On an equal footing
On the second floor of the house, Valentin is proud to occupy “one of the best bedrooms”, equipped like the ten others with a private bathroom. This 25-year-old young man, who works as a launderer in an Esat in Carquefou, discovers the “joys” of aperitifs and evenings “with super nice roommates and without the parents”, but also, and for the first time, “How do you start a washing machine”. Because here, the objective is that everyone is on an equal footing. “We do the shopping, we prepare dinner, we all eat together… We are a shock team”, summarizes with a smile Maxime, 27, waiter at the extraordinary restaurant Le Reflet and carrier of trisomy 21.
For this to work on a daily basis, carers work with residents with disabilities. A necessary boost for Emma, who, for example, learned to do her hair alone in the morning before going to the medical-educational institute where she is welcomed during the day. Etienne, an employee of the project who lives with his family in an adjoining apartment, also helps, whether it is for the job search for young people or to offer entertainment. Enough for the bonds to be woven naturally the rest of the time between the occupants of this cheerful house, which has several living rooms and even a swimming pool.
Other Fratries houses in the pipeline
On the terrace, in each other’s arms, Pauline and Aurélie already seem very close. This “young pro”, as they are called here, absolutely does not regret having put down her suitcases at Siblings three weeks ago, for a monthly rent of around 700 euros. “With Pauline, we talk, we give each other massages, we take out the trash together. These are very simple moments but we all already have real attention to each other, ”says the 30-year-old, who works in the home help sector.
As in any “coliving”, the inhabitants are free to stay as long as they wish. If the emotion is likely to be strong at the time of the departures, the replacements should not be too difficult to find so much the requests, on one side as on the other, “are numerous”, estimate the founders of Fratries. The company, wholly owned by a non-profit endowment fund, is already imagining the appearance of a second house in Nantes. In the meantime, a new flat share should open its doors in Rennes next spring.