“Young people need a place to be listened to”: Brigitte Macron visiting the Nîmes Teenagers’ Center

Brigitte Macron et Ludovic Gicquel, pédopsychiatre, ont présenté l'opération. Midi Libre – Mickaël Anisset

Présidente de la Fondation des hôpitaux, la Première dame Brigitte Macron a visité ce mardi cette maison des ados emblématique, soutenue par l'opération Pièces jaunes. 

You never open the door to the Adolescent Center by chance. The young people (aged 11 to 21) who enter there need an ear, an answer or a helping hand, sometimes support. ;longer when adolescence is painful and chaotic.

In this place opened in 2012, "2000 young people aged 14 on average come each year, for four sessions most often",explains Philippe Rigoulot, the director of the Maison des adolescents  (MDA) who received this Tuesday a visit from Brigitte Macron, First Lady and President of the Hospital Foundation whose emblematic Yellow Pieces operation helps finance projects for hospitalized children and adolescents. ;

"Since Covid, teenagers' discomfort"

Welcomed by Christian Polge, the president of the board of directors, the employees of the MDA, elected officials and especially young people who presented their work to him, Brigitte Macron visited the premises, recalling that this house has was able to benefit from the financing of the Yellow Coins.

The young health ambassadors showed their work to Brigitte Macron. Midi Libre – Mickaël Anisset

"After Covid, we felt an even deeper unease among young people, we released emergency funds", she reminds. This is confirmed by Ludovic Gicquel, child psychiatrist and member of the board of directors of the Hospital Foundation: "More young people are doing badly, and they are doing even worse than before. Teenagers need a reassuring place like here. and rejuvenating. But there is more to a teenager who is doing poorly than just their suffering. He has abilities."

Operation Yellow Coins

The Yellow Pieces operation has existed for 35 years. Since 1989, 9,700 projects have been financed in France and 657 in Occitanie (for 5.2M€). In 2023, 14 new projects were supported in Occitanie (607,000 euros). "The projects are co-financed, up to a maximum of 50%", specifies Anne Barrère, vice-president of the Hospital Foundation. Last year on a national collection of 6M€, 1.2M€ come from yellow piggy banks (the rest of the donations are made online). "Yellow coins help finance  Family Houses to bring parents closer to their hospitalized children, parent-child rooms and Adolescent Houses."

It is estimated that 7% to 10% of adolescents need support. Here, "we are in a state of taming, we create the conditions for possible speech", adds Philippe Rigoulot which insists on the importance of giving adolescence its place in the heart of the city. But the 400 square meters of rue Florian are already too small even if a branch of the MDA has been created in Uzès. "We lack space, we are looking for new premises to expand. We would like a therapeutic garden. Our young people are too locked up…"

Brigitte Macron smiles: "I understood the message well…" giving hope that the Yellow Pieces once again come to support the projects of the MDA of Nîmes.

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