A social garage for Saint-Martin-au-Laert

"Being professionally concerned with the issue of mobility in rural areas, and also sometimes in the city, where certain districts are poorly served, I decided to sponsor this project as a continuation of my previous commitments - Auto Mobilité cooperates with Défi Mobilité, another nonprofit that I sponsored in 2007 - and for the interest that I feel in these issues."

Jean-Christophe Géhin

In Saint-Martin-au-Laert, and elsewhere in France, a lack of mobility is synonymous with social isolation. The local nonprofit Auto-Mobilité accordingly decided to open a social garage in September 2011. The aim of this garage is to offer mobility alternatives to a hundred persons in difficulty referred by the social organizations, and to help them increase their chances of finding a job or training. The project also allows the creation of two full-time open-term jobs - a facility manager and an auto-mechanic - and 4 trainee and/or professionalization contracts; 2 in auto repair and 2 in pollution control.

Repair on one side, pollution control on the other

To do this, Auto-Mobilité is setting up four activities ranging from the collection and overhaul of vehicles obtained from private individuals, garages and companies; the sale of these vehicles at social prices for people in difficulty, including the leasing of a box to enable users to repair their own vehicles with or without technical assistance; and the dismantling/pollution control of vehicles sent to the breakers.

The Veolia Environment Foundation is participating in this project that combines a social vocation, workforce development and environmental conservation, by purchasing the tools required.