An “unconditional” welcome: this is the mission that the Our Lady of the Homeless Home 72 years ago. And that it continues to provide, through around thirty sites, in the Lyon metropolitan area. Today, more than 1,800 people with difficult life paths find support there to facilitate their professional reintegration and regain financial autonomy. “The Foyer is more of a generalist in its reception”, specifies Marion Veziant-Rolland, director of the association, “but it sometimes has its limits and must respond to specific issues, such as those of women with children. »
A crèche also open to families in the neighborhood
It is to refine the reception of this public that the Foyer is launching its new project this Wednesday. A building reserved for single women, with or without children, which will be built on rue d’Inkermann, in the 6th arrondissement of Lyon. The first stone will be laid this summer, and will welcome its first residents in early 2024. 56 housing units are planned around a garden and common areas. With a distinctive feature: a crèche.
“The women we take in are sometimes hampered by looking after their child”, observes Marion Veizant-Rolland, “which leads to a vicious circle: we can’t have them looked after as long as we don’t have a job, and without a guard, it’s complicated to look for a job! However, our experience proves that activity is central to the way people recover. »
Another innovation: this crèche will also be open to the neighbourhood. “This marks a new will of the Foyer, to open up to the life of the district, by allowing other families to participate in the life of the establishment”, adds Marion Veziant-Rolland. “We wanted to combine soothing, secure reception conditions, with the possibility of looking to the future, for this public who does not have problems of regularity on the territory, but rather of integration. »
For each donation, a symbolic Playmobil will be sent
However, if the land is found, the building still remains to be built. The City and Metropolis of Lyon have already contributed 1,245,000 euros, and sponsorship operations are underway. But you have to go fast. This is why the Foyer has teamed up with the Conversationnel agency to launch an original participatory campaign aimed at individuals. With a nice stop-motion film made for the occasion.
An Ulule page invites you to make a donation of 15 to 1,500 euros. And to symbolize the history of these families which remains to be written, a small gift will be sent to each donor: Playmobil, from the recycling center of the Foyer, where the donations which finance its activities are sorted. For 20 euros or more, the donor will receive an entire Playmobil family; for 300 euros, a family and a kitchen. “These donations will make it possible to build the home step by step, symbolically, and to make this story a reality”, concludes the Home, taking inspiration from the slogan of the famous toys.