2023-12-10 14:01:00
The vice-president of the A tous cœurs association likes to listen more than to speak.
Committed to the A tous cœurs association for 12 or 13 years, Nadine Courtois has been its vice-president for 4 years. While she wants to do some volunteering, she happens to pass by the association’s store and sees a lady she knows through the window. She enters and quickly comes back one followingnoon a week.
Today, she is present for at least 4 half-days. “I enjoy it. I like talking to people. At the food aid I take care of, they come because they are in a difficult situation,” explains Nadine Courtois. “You have to listen more than you talk. I have always been a good listener. I advise them when they ask for it. I invite them to find a small job when they can, to be like everyone else, find a certain self-esteem, simply feel good. But not everyone can,” she adds.
No judgment and no discrimination
The volunteer has some perspective on her commitment and can say: “The association brings me more than what I give, it’s beneficial for me too. We support each other with the other volunteers.” Nadine Courtois talks regarding the extent to which it is the social bond that connects all the volunteers of A tous cœurs and how they support each other without judgment or discrimination, reflecting the values conveyed by the association. “There are elderly people, some are disabled or have autistic disorders, but they are accompanied by other volunteers.” Everyone therefore has a place in their own right in the team at the rue du Lion d’or boutique, which is made up of five volunteers.
The contribution of the “circular economy”
Nadine Courtois notes that clothing sales are constantly increasing with a more diverse population because it is sensitive to the circular economy. Social diversity and more sustainable consumption are also part of the values promoted by the association. “It is thanks to the sales of the three shops that we can finance food aid,” she emphasizes. “The products sold come from donations from residents. We have a dedicated team who goes to people’s homes to collect furniture, objects, clothes, etc. It’s work to go up and down the floors,” she explains. -her to pay tribute to the commitment of Alain, Mogamed-Ali, Vazir and Cédric, highlighting in passing the complementarity of the association’s volunteers. “I have enormous pleasure in being there. The atmosphere is pleasant. We all meet regularly.”
Open to all, this place is full of clothes and crockery at low prices but it is also where you can come and ask for help on Wednesday followingnoons (and outside this time frame if necessary). If Nadine Courtois has the possibility to act during the person’s first visit, the continuation is conditioned by a meeting with a social worker authorized to establish a shuttle form.
This is the condition for regular support which can last up to eight months and take the form of food aid, funding for school trips or even a sports license for children, aid for the purchase of gas bottles, payment for heating, mobility, etc. In total, the vice-president follows around fifty people.
The struggle of young people
She says she is touched by the hardship that young people in particular have to face and the difficulty that it must be for them to take this step. “We see a lot of young people aged 19 to 30 working part-time.”
Apart from A tous cœurs, Nadine Courtois is the mother of three children and grandmother of eleven grandchildren whom she takes great pleasure in taking care of when they come to visit her during the school holidays. Before Millau and her volunteer commitment, she moved around a lot to follow her gendarme husband and she was involved in her children’s schools. She says she has always had the “social fiber”.
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