Local residents living in Place Charles Bernard woke on 27 November to find that they had a new neighbour: a Lulu dans ma rue kiosk now holds pride of place at the corner of rue du Poteau and rue Duhesme. This new link in the chain of solidarity started in 2014 has been set up as a result of the support of many stakeholders, including the Veolia Foundation, a long-standing partner of the association. The latest Lulu dans ma rue cements the success of the initiative started by Charles-Edouard Vincent.
Having founded the Emmaüs-Defi back-to-work enterprise, he then devised the concept of an inclusive neighbourhood concierge service in 2014, with the idea being to offer sustainable work to people who had been on employment access schemes and are unable to secure employment with a company. Vincent turned his ambition into reality by combining a neighbourhood kiosk with a website to link up local residents looking for services, and Lulus, the self-employed people who are offering their services. The Foundation supported him right from the pre-project phase by financing the Paris feasibility study, and then with the trial phase, when a first kiosk was set up in the city’s 4th arrondissement, and subsequently with development. The Veolia Foundation is continuing its support today by getting involved in training and social support for the self-employed people offering their services (the Lulus).
The first kiosk opened in April 2015 in the Marais (4th arrondissement) and was replicated in 2016 in the 17th arrondissement (Villiers), and in the 15th, 20th and 16th arrondissements. Lulu can also be found in several Parisian markets (find out more).
The initiative has been consistently successfully since the first kiosks opened their doors. The association has just passed the symbolic threshold of 200 orders a day from across their network of kiosks! When getting people back to work goes hand-in-hand with innovation, the Veolia Foundation is happy to help.
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Find out more about the Veolia Foundation's support for Lulu dans ma rue.