Sport dans la Ville settles down in the Paris region

"Sport dans la Ville is an exemplary nonprofit and its action is fully acknowledged in the Lyon and Grenoble urban areas. Veolia Water and Dalkia are longtime partners of the nonprofit, with the recruitment, sponsoring of young persons and participation in inter-corporate events organized by Sport dans la Ville."

Philippe Yvon

Sport dans la Ville was created in 1998 to promote the social and professional integration of young people from vulnerable neighborhoods through its sport centers, training programs and job counseling services. The nonprofit already has 22 facilities in the Rhône-Alpes and Paris regions. 3000 young persons aged 7 to 20 practice sports there regularly free of charge, and participate in educational projects:

• "Apprenti' bus", a travelling workshop for reading and writing for preadolescents of the vulnerable districts of the Lyon urban area;
• "L dans la Ville" for the emancipation and professional integration of young girls;
• "Job dans la Ville", aimed at young persons aged 15 and over to help them succeed in their guidance and professional integration;
• "Entrepreneurs dans la Ville ", a program of aid in company creation that has led to the formation of 50 companies in the last three years.

Since 2005, the Foundation has been supporting the nonprofit in the development of its back-to-work hub. It has thus participated in financing the "Apprenti' bus" and the development of a "Campus"in the 9^th district of Lyon. With the 10 acres of the Joseph Boucaud municipal stadium provided by the City of Lyon, the "Campus "is the headquarters today of Sport dans la Ville, where 4000 young people can train. They have several football fields and basketball courts, an athletics track, and a space for activities reserved for young girls, and conference and training rooms, and, since 2010, a corporate nursery that accommodates 20 young creators.

Besides this financial contribution, Veolia Eau and Sport dans la Ville have forged close links by sponsoring and even hiring several young people introduced by the nonprofit.

A reception area for youths in the Paris region

The sports program of Sport dans la Ville is in full swing in the Paris region, particularly with the inauguration of two "But en Or" football fields in September 2013, in Drancy (Seine-Saint-Denis) and in the 19^th district of Paris. Since the 2013 school reopening, the nonprofit has accompanied 600 young people of the region (aged 6 to 20) through its three sports centers, 60 in its "Job dans la Ville" program and 50 young girls in the "L dans la Ville" program. The nonprofit plans to open ten sports centers by 2016 to accompany about 2000 young persons. To do this, it is necessary to create a Sport dans la Ville space in the Paris region.

The aim is to create a reception and training area to develop the actions of the "Job dans la Ville "and "L dans la Ville " programs, both qualitatively and quantitatively. On completion of the "Job dans la Ville" program, 84 % of the young persons find training or a lasting job. This program is based on a strong involvement of the youths, individual counseling by two referents (the professional integration manager and the corporate sponsor), a program of intense training and an active network of corporate partners.

A place for the development of back-to-work activities

With an area of 100 square meters, the Sport dans la Ville space includes a "Job dans la Ville" room dedicated to finding a job and individual counseling, a "training space" for training workshops and for the meetings of the "L dans la Ville" program, as well as the nonprofit's offices.

The proximity of this space with the young people (and with the sports facilities) is a powerful asset for providing them with quality counseling, but it is also important for their future professional integration that they leave their neighborhoods and approach the corporate world. For this purpose, the nonprofit has decided to rent and furnish premises in Paris near the Gare du Nord, facilitating access to young people from Sarcelles, Paris 19^th district, Drancy and the future territories where Sport dans la Ville will be installed in the future.