“I say hello to everyone, but I never meet anyone,” sighs Marilyne, 56 years old.
Saturday February 10, this mother, resident of an establishment for disabled adults in Étampes, participated in the first ball of the Maison des Belles Fontaines organized at La Piscine d'en Face, in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois.
It is here that the teams from this structure in Juvisy-sur-Orge imagined a meeting to break the isolation of people with disabilities.
Dance floor with DJ, speed dating tables and wellness workshops punctuated the afternoon.
“I would love to meet someone but at the home, we all know each other,” continues Marilyne, seated on the first floor of this multi-activity nursery.
I had children and the father left… Since then, I have been all alone.
» In front of her, Patrick, 67, drinks in her words.
“I have been single for five years,” explains this resident of Maison des Belles Fontaines.
After my mother died, I didn't feel like it.
But now I'm ready to start again.
»
“What do I like about her?
All !
»
It is therefore on Marilyne that the sixty-year-old has set his sights.
“What do I like about her?
Everything, he says with a broad smile.
We spoke for a few minutes and I already like his personality.
» Under the spell, Patrick attempts a first rapprochement.
He grabs the rose placed on the red tablecloth and proudly hands it to his, perhaps, future sweetheart.
His gesture breaks the ice for good.
Marilyne grabs the flower and the two new friends head upstairs to continue the afternoon on the dance floor.
On the mezzanine of this former swimming pool transformed into a third place, the colored lights which sweep the track mingle with the greatest hits of Émile et Images, Compagnie Créole and Claude François.
“Are you there, the Piscine d’en Facing?”
says the DJ, placing heavy emphasis on the last word.
Let's move on to the macarena!
» In front of him, there are around a hundred residents, accompanied by their educators, wiggling their hips.
Barely had the second piece started, Patrick discreetly grabbed Marilyne's hand.
Attempt accepted, they will remain hand in hand for two more pieces until Patrick comes down to smoke a cigarette.
“I made him laugh by imitating the goat”
“When we were dancing, she told me that I made her laugh by imitating the goat,” he confides aside.
So I went for it.
" The following ?
Neither he nor she knows how this brand new relationship will evolve.
On the other hand, for the organizers, the contract is fulfilled.
“After confinement, many residents felt isolated,” says Arnaud Grand, director of two establishments and the linchpin of this project.
To create connections, we organized events in our structures.
But we had to go further.
»
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To go further, Arnaud Grand remained faithful to his method: inclusion.
“We consulted residents to find out what they expected,” he continues.
And what came up all the time was dancing and meeting people.
This is exactly what we proposed today.
We brought together around twenty establishments, it’s unheard of!
There was even one who came from Seine-Saint-Denis.
»
“I still have lots of ideas”
“It’s really a good idea,” concludes Frédéric, also a resident of the Maison des Belles Fontaines home in Juvisy-sur-Orge.
An event like this allows us, people with a psychological disability, to show that we are in the same world.
It feels good because after Covid, we lost a lot of contact.
»
At 6 p.m., the DJ put away his equipment and the groups returned to their minibus.
Given the success, the event could return for a second edition.
“We will see in what form,” slips Arnaud Grand.
I still have lots of ideas.
»