Local volunteers join the construction of a Communal House in Ivry-sur-Seine

The first ‘Communal House’ for disabled adults and people living in precarity in the Paris area has opened its construction site to the public on September 19, in Ivry-sur-Seine (Val-de-Marne), as part of an initiative for local community volunteers and future residents to get involved in the building process.

The initiative, run by association Coloc en Val-de-Marne, will require extra funding in order to complete the project by 2027, when the house is expected to welcome its first residents.

“It’s great to spend these moments with everyone working together on our project,” said Blandine Gélain, 66, president of the association.

Gélain knows the stakes personally. Her son, Joakim, 31, has a mental disability. He too is part of the craft team, involved in tiling the floors of the house.

“We are a group of young people with a little extra something who each wants to live independently at home, but all together,” is how future residents like Antony and Anaëlle define themselves.

In October 2023, Blandine Gélain founded the association alongside other women like Marie-Christine, whose children have similar disabilities.

Marie-Christine waited six years for her son Théophane, suffering from Down Syndrome, to finally be installed in a specialised home in Seine-et-Marne.

This new Communal House will be split between accommodation for disabled young-adults and boarding for people living in precarity, managed by Solidarités Nouvelles pour le Logement 94 (SNL) a semi-state body.

According to Coloc en Val-de-Marne, the project will eventually offer housing to young adults with Down Syndrome, Autism, and other cognitive disabilities, in the form of nine independent studios of around 20m2, a large common space, and a garden. The project will also house low income families, a unique environment where both groups of people can find mutual support.

For families anxious to find a secure place for their relatives with mental handicaps to live, this is a golden opportunity. The Ivry project responds to a pressing national need. A 2023 nationwide study led by PlayMoovin, a manufacturer of eco-designed wheelchairs, revealed that only 3% of disabled adults benefit from adapted housing across France.

“These studios will give invaluable independence to those with mental disabilities who really want some space from their parents, like most young adults would,” said Blandine Gélain.

For Coloc en Val-de-Marne, financing has been the main obstacle: "Our group is not as well known as other big organisations,” Gélain explained. In spite of a lack of structured financing, last year, the association successfully raised €20,000 through an online fundraiser. Plans are afoot to launch another campaign for funding next year.

Despite the hurdles, optimism prevails on Rue Mirabeau. Slowly but surely, construction continues, moving the project closer to its scheduled opening date in 2027, sustained by the conviction that solidarity can fill a gap the system has long left open.