The vocation of the Maisons Relais is to welcome people in very difficult situations: minimal resources, social dislocation, practical or psychological inability to have a normal home, especially for those who spend long periods in a psychiatric hospital. The combination of private housing and common areas that encourage links and exchanges offers the occupants a framework conducive to the return to mainstream society. Each Maison Relais has its own social project, with clearly defined objectives. At Cernay (Deux-Sèvres district), the teams of Maison Boësset are already working regularly with the psychiatric world to accommodate people who are too fragile to live alone. The facility is run by the nonprofit Art et Loisirs on behalf of the nonprofit organization Cité des Cloches, partner of the Abbé Pierre Foundation. Its managers have decided to convert it into a Maison Relais to offer a very social, but also more permanent and comfortable habitat, including for persons with reduced mobility. This means a big work project.
