“She broke my loneliness”, one year later, shared accommodation for seniors near Sète fulfills its mission

Franck et quelques-unes des colocataires autour de la grande table où sont pris tous les repas. Midi Libre – PHILIPPE MALRIC

Opened on March 16, 2023 in Loupian, near Sète, Maison Marguerite, shared accommodation for seniors, has managed to recreate a family for isolated seniors.

"Here, it's like in the movie The Spanish Inn, except that there are seniors' quot;. A year after its opening – it was March 16, 2023 – Franck and Sébastien, the creators of the Marguerite house located at Domaine des Verdiers in Loupian, near Sète, display a smile as wide as their eight residents. Their shared accommodation project for seniors – proposed by the Maison Marguerite concept at the national level – largely met their expectations and those of their residents.

Home-cooked meals taken together

This residence "broke my solitude", slips Lucile sitting at the large table in the dining room where everyone eats home-cooked meals proposed by the two employees and/or the roommates themselves. "It'was very hard at my house. There, when I get up in the morning, I know that there is someone in the house". "We managed to recreate a family", notes Franck. "As in all families, we talk about everything. We help each other. There may be some tension but above all we laugh a lot". We laugh and above all we are free.

Francis, 92, was the first to settle at the Domaine. It was from day one in 2023. Free MIDI – PHILIPPE MALRIC

Large, comfortable single rooms

Installed in their large, comfortable single rooms (from €1,800 per month depending on the surface area), the roommates in this non-medical residence live as if they were at home. And so they go out whenever they want to go to the market, to take lessons at the local choir, or to see friends and family. Or even receive them. "We have a big meal once a quarter with all the families", explains Franck. "Everyone knows each other".

There are days when it doesn't stop coming in and out

"There are days when it never stops coming in and out", specifies Franck, particularly touched by the "trust granted by the families".  However, the two bosses and their two employees, in their desire to "meet everyone's expectations"have also established a program of events in which participation is of course free. There are, for example, gentle fitness on Wednesdays, pastry workshops, visits from a volunteer on Thursdays who offer beauty treatments as well as board games or topics of conversation. "We also have intergenerational meetings with school children", announces Franck.

A "family spirit"

Cet "family spirit" also allows us to overcome hard blows like when two residents died at the&# 39;hospital. "We waited for the agreement of the entire group to remove their names from their doors and reallocate their rooms" , breathes Franck, still a little moved by these painful situations.

Words of roommates

Francis, 92, was murdered. the first &agrav; settle down at Domaine des Verdiers. It was opening day, March 16, 2023. A year later, the last crier of the Criée de Sèe does not regret his choice. "It's wonderful here", he said sitting in the comfortable armchair in his room. "It's a palace. We live à countryside. I'm at home here. We never get bored. It's lively; every day and we eat well", declares the one who proposed' to prepare soup for everyone.
"Life here is going very well", comments from his sideé Arthur, the 96-year-old elder, sitting on a sofa from the terrace where he takes the sun. "We're all very good together. The people are very kind and there is freedom. here".

"Since we live together all the time, we can only get attached", said- il. "We are in the Human and that's exactly what we were looking for" , specifies Sébastien. The converse is true. With notable progress.

Gains in autonomy

"Arthur has evolved a lot", slips Sandra, one of the nurses who regularly visits the Domaine des Verdiers, about the dean of the residence, 96 years old (the youngest is 75)."When I went to see him at his home in Bouzigues, he was withdrawn. He spoke very little. Now we can't stop it. He regained his autonomy. Here he benefited from great psychological effects".

At 96 years old, Arthur is the dean of the residence. FREE MIDI – PHILIPPE MALRIC

"We are happy here", estimates Conception, also bouzigaude. & quot;I like everything here. All people are interesting. We talk a lot." "It'was a little hard at first", Lucile concedes. It was necessary, in fact, for everyone, with their history and their solitude, to soften up and find their place in the group. "But now, things are going very well. And, above all, I am no longer alone".

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