At the Maison Rousseau in Lunel, a new director who promotes citizen participation

Le nouveau “chef” de Rousseau a toujours été attiré par le social. A. C.

Manuel Cabanillas est à la tête du centre socioculturel de la ville depuis le 1er mars.

He is at the origin of the demonstration “It's Rousseau's party!” which took place this Friday, September 20, from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. At 35, Manuel Cabanillas is not new to the sociocultural field.

Read also: In Lunel, the Maison Rousseau festival was full of ideas and words

Appointed new director of the Maison Jean-Jacques-Rousseau in Lunel on March 1, this native of Aigues-Mortes, where he has always lived, has a background that can be described as atypical.

A vocation since his youth

“I didn't have a traditional education, but I've always been drawn to social and humanitarian issues, notes Manuel Cabanillas. At a very young age, I got involved in associations and invested in the board of directors of the CCAS of Aigues-Mortes”, continues the holder of a BEP in health and social careers.

A vocation that he quickly embraced by obtaining, at 18, his nursing assistant diploma. With this sesame in his pocket, Manuel Cabanillas was immediately hired by the departmental association of pupils of public education in Gard, which integrated him into its teams at Aigues-Marines, an establishment for adults with severe disabilities located in Grau-du-Roi.

The time of experience

2017 will be the year of his professional reorientation. “I wanted to work even more in the social sector”, explains the man who obtained his educational supervisor diploma the same year.

He will work with the Montpellier association Un toit où apprendre, “which supports unaccompanied minors”, before being recruited by the Protestant society Les Amis des pauvres for its children's home in Nîmes Lights and joys. A journey not far from home that will last until 2021, the year of his return “home”.

The Lunel position immediately appeals to him

Manuel Cabanillas returns to his old Aigues-Mortes and his new job as educational and social coordinator at the socio-cultural center. He will stay there for three years and will begin his course to obtain the certificate of aptitude for the functions of supervision of social and medico-social units (Caferuis), which he will complete a few weeks after taking up his position at the Maison Jean-Jacques-Rousseau.

“What the call for tenders from the City of Lunel proposed corresponded entirely to my expectations and to the idea that I have of the profession in terms of citizen participation and project development, recognizes the new director of the municipal structure. Especially since the socio-cultural center is aimed at a larger population, with the particularity of the city's priority neighborhoods (QPV). Hence intense cooperation and dynamism with the municipality and partners."

Five people under his responsibility

At the head of a team of five people, Manuel Cabanillas is settling in in spring 2024 and gaining knowledge of the field, the local stakeholders, the associations, the volunteers and, of course, the public. "Of all audiences, he is keen to emphasize. Because many people think that the word “social” only refers to people in difficulty. However, Maison Rousseau is for everyone, for all Lunellois.”

A major confusion among citizens that led to this first fun-educational festival of the sociocultural center this Friday, September 20. At the end of it, the director and his team hope to be better identified. This will allow them, among other things, to prepare, and as accurately as possible, the next social project 2026-2031.

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