“A fertile and unifying place. » The mayor of Villejuif was able to find the words – despite the Covid which assailed him – to describe the resourcefulness of the Emmaüs La Friperie Solidaire association, which inaugurated a café like no other this Thursday morning.
The association chose its 20th anniversary to celebrate its new activity. The café area, called Caf’Tiers, is located in a discreet corner of this store which collects and sells second-hand items at low prices. It is also installed in the 600 m2 garden at the back.
“We want to offer residents something other than simple sales in the store. We want to create social ties,” explains Pascale Flamant, president of Emmaüs La Friperie Solidaire, which manages other resource centers in Choisy-le-Roi, Alfortville, Cachan and Paris (12th arrondissement).
“This solidarity café allows us to organize creative activities, jazz concerts, sewing and crochet workshops, as well as urban dance or an improvised choir around a barrel organ,” explains Baya Rivière, its manager. Drinks are sold there at a symbolic price (0.50 euros).
Employees in integration
The place is run by volunteers and three of the association’s fifty back-to-work employees. “These are people far from employment. We are putting them back on track via a contract that can last up to two years, explains Ludovic Vasseur, director of Emmaüs La Friperie Solidaire. They sort donations, take care of sales, are drivers, etc. And benefit from personalized support at the same time. »
Villejuif, September 28. The mayor and his deputy for Social Affairs visited the interior space of the solidarity café, where drinks are offered at 0.50 euros.
In Villejuif, house and garden are made available to the association free of charge by the town hall. “This place cultivates human relationships and the solidarity economy. It makes life a little less hard,” rejoices Pierre Garzon. “It is a place of solidarity, ecology and which mobilizes people’s citizenship. In short, it ticks all the boxes of what we want for Villejuif,” smiles Antonin Cois (PCF), Social Assistant.
Reuse also in Bercy 2 and Val-de-Fontenay
In Fontenay-sous-Bois too, we appreciate the resource centers. The local association Habitudes has just opened the first in the city at 9, avenue du Val-de-Fontenay. You can donate clothes there or buy second-hand ones from 1 euro. Sewing classes are planned there.
The Emmaüs Liberté community will host free workshops on October 7 at Bercy 2 to learn how to reuse textiles and second-hand objects.
At the Bercy 2 shopping center in Charenton-le-Pont, the Emmaüs Liberté community which occupies a store there will offer a special fashion show for second-hand clothing, by residents and high school students from Charenton, Saturday October 7 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. . Workshops will be offered to learn how to transform and reuse items.
Emmaüs La Friperie Solidaire, 123, avenue du Colonel-Fabien in Villejuif. Resource center open Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., solidarity café from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Such. : 01.46.71.75.44.
#ValdeMarne #Friperie #Solidaire #dEmmaüs #opens #CafTiers #café #resource #center
