Like an oasis in the desert… On the sidelines of the multiple scandals linked to the mistreatment of our elders, some nursing homes offer a priori improbable connections, combining geriatrics services, crèche and coworking space… This is particularly the case of the Jardins d’ Haiti, in Marseilles. “Administratively, we are an Ehpad, but we prefer to say ‘House to live'”, specifies its director, Laurent Boucraut, determined to break the codes … and the walls of his retirement home to let the inhabitants of the district enter.
This is what this pioneer of the genre did when he returned from Australia in 2016. “At the Melbourne hospital, where my wife was a doctor, I thought I was in the wrong place. On the ground floor floor, there were gardens, a nursery, a restaurant, a hotel and sick children lived among the others,” he enthuses. This mix created the biggest trigger in my life: you have to allow yourself to dream and laugh a little more! If old people can’t go out, let the world come to them!” After four years of work, he opened the 5,000 square meters of his dream house at the end of 2020. It mixes 93 residents of the Ehpad, 12 babies from a micro-nursery, four shared offices and, recently, a bistronomic restaurant as well as two student accommodations…
Involve the neighbors
Part of the work was made possible thanks to the call for projects “A third place in my Ehpad”, launched in 2021 as part of the Ségur de la santé. “One of the best ways to avoid excesses is to involve neighbors so that these establishments remain places of life and desires”, analyzes Marie-Automne Thépot, of the National Solidarity Fund for the autonomy (CNSA). But how do you get a geriatric resident to live with a baby, a teleworker with a group that has come to lunch? “This cannot be improvised, especially with the very standardized model of Ehpad! recognizes Marie-Laure Cuvelier, of the public interest group France Tiers-Lieux. It is fertile ground for thinking things differently.”
At the Jardins d’Haïti, the spaces have been designed so that everyone can live as if they were at home, but never to the detriment of the residents. “Our two student accommodations are free in exchange for seven hours a week devoted to the elderly”, illustrates Laurent Boucraut. A clever balance orchestrated by a team of caregivers, who entrust coming to work with much more pleasure in these “ehpadant” places!
4 places to mix generations
The Saint-Charles house, in the 15th arrondissement of Paris: an intergenerational space where you can notably garden.
© / Coll. Private
To the convent Want to grow something other than basil on your balcony? Become a volunteer at Maison Saint-Charles, in the heart of the 15th arrondissement of Paris. This new kind of intergenerational concept invites you to participate in its animation and, in particular, in the maintenance of its 3,600 square meter garden. Info about www.habitathumanisme.org
Canteen-flea market Located in the city center of Nîmes, the Protestant nursing home Les Jardins de la fontaine has just opened onto the street. Enter for lunch in its solidarity canteen which offers the equipment used for sale. For you, old crockery and pretty furniture personalized by the craftsmen and artists of the city. 5, avenue Franklin-Roosevelt 30,000 Nîmes. Such. : 04 66 62 54 54
Locavore In Lyon-Perrache, between the senior and student residences, Chez Daddy opens onto a one-hectare garden where fruit trees adjoin the pétanque court. You can taste the recipes developed with local producers in a friendly atmosphere and then, why not, take part in the (full-filled) entertainment program! Chezdaddy.fr
At the town hall cafe In this Ehpad, no residents, but inhabitants who each take their turn in the animation of this building housing a grocery store, a post office, a cinema and a bistro-brasserie decorated with Formica furniture. More than a place to live, the Kersalic residence has become a real village square! 46, rue du Maréchal-Foch 22 200 Guingamp
An article from the special issue of L’Express “Find the city that suits you”, currently on sale.