In Aulnay-sous-Bois, in the Paris region, the under 19-year old cohort accounts for 30.8% of the population, and the 20 to 40 year olds, 29.1%. A young population for whom job offers are few and far between. The unemployment rate of the working-age population in Aulnay is around 17%, but in some sectors, like La Rose des Vents, 48% of young people are without work.
Unemployment, lack of professional qualifications, marginalization… attempting for the past eight years to reverse this “exclusion spiral”, the Le Ricochet association implements educational projects targeting the municipality’s young and at-risk population. In March 2006, a stage was reached with the association adopting the form of a structure to undertake workforce integration projects and recruit twenty people on “employment support contracts.”
Stimulate young people through work
New points of reference
Today, Le Ricochet mainly works with Aulnay City Hall and Le Bailleur français which is responsible for tenanting low-rent state housing, within the context of the urban rehabilitation project undertaken by the municipality. It covers all earthworks, painting building entranceways and stairwells and other common areas. In the near future, it hopes to extend these activities across the entire region. For this, it is currently negotiating new contracts with potential clients: tenanting organisation 3F, Aulnay state housing service, and the contractor GTM Démolition. It is also trying to get small local companies and the neighborhood to deal with waste removal and moving.
Its energy is already paying off: following their integration project, three young people found a permanent position. Such results are to be encouraged by helping the association extend its activities across the region.
