Developing local services and local integration

"I feel certain that it is indispensable today to invent activities for all, to ensure that everyone finds his place in society. The concept of local urban services offers a springboard for many sidelined and jobless persons, who can thus feel useful again, provide a genuine service, and boost their income over the welfare minimum."

Christine Rodwell

After the success of the Emmaüs Défi thrift shop, its creator, Charles-Edouard Vincent, wants to do more: propose a lasting activity for people from a back-to-work program unable to land a company job. APCDS wants to reinvent one-time services in an urban setting: small-scale DIY, deliveries, handling and caretaking, pet-sitting, etc. All these services will be available from a neighborhood caretaking/maintenance service installed in a kiosk and using a web platform to facilitate relations between service providers and customers. "Lulu dans ma rue", the neighborhood concierge, finds the right person at the right time to provide a reliable quality service.

100 "Lulus" per neighborhood

In 2014, the Foundation backed the preparation of the preliminary project by taking charge of the feasibility study on Paris. The study demonstrated the validity of the concept, so that the first kiosk will be created in 2015, in the IVth District of Paris, and the project will be tried out for a year. The ultimate goal is to train 100 "Lulu" service providers having autoentrepreneur status, 10% of them after a back-to-work phase or jobless. Each provider will be evaluated by its customers, because trust is indispensable for the system to work.

Working as a "Lulu" will be one step toward obtaining an open-term contract ... or not! The important thing is for the provider to generate some income in an environment that suits him and which gives him a place in society.