Project info
Café Joyeux (translated: Joyful Café) Strasbourg, France
Operator: Fonds de Dotation Émeraude Solidaire
Foundation established in 2008,
opening Café Joyeux Strasbourg in 2024
8 volunteers in the Strasbourg team of the foundation
Operational running of the café:
1 full-time café manager, 1 full-time cook
10 “happy” team members in Strasbourg
Planned location: La Petite France neighborhood, near the cathedral in the city center of Strasbourg
Project: construction of the café
Our funding:
2023: Contribution of 15,000 € to the costs of setting up the Café Joyeux
2024: Costs of the training for one “happy” team member (10,000 €)
Funding period: 2023 and 2024
Café Joyeux welcomes in its teams people with intellectual and cognitive disabilities and ensures them not only a job but also training in the catering industry. The vision of Café Joyeux can be summarized as follows:
- dare to work together with the individual weaknesses of all participants,
- to promote the encounter with differences,
- to cook, serve and share in joy,
- to open our hearts
Café Joyeux aims to bring intellectual disabilities back to the center of our daily lives and to show that all team members are able to work and make a living in a normal environment.
The project operator
Émeraude Solidaire raises funds and invests part of its endowment in Cafés Joyeux to finance the following: Setting up and opening the cafés, training team members and scaling the project. The café-restaurants then operate normally and break even in the third year of their fiscal year. All profits go to Émeraude Solidaire to fulfill its mission of professional inclusion for people with intellectual and cognitive disabilities.
The first Café Joyeux opened in Rennes in 2017. There are five cafés in or near Paris, two in Bordeaux, one each in Tours and Lyon, one in Brussels and one in Lisbon. Beginning of 2023, additional cafés were opened in Nantes and Montpellier.
Café Joyeux in Strasbourg
At Café Joyeux in Strasbourg, 10 team members with intellectual and cognitive disabilities are employed on a permanent basis. They will be employed with a work rhythm adapted to their abilities. A benevolent management will allow them to gradually gain self-confidence and autonomy.
The team members will be trained and acquire a recognized diploma as all-rounders in the catering industry. This diploma will allow them to jump into the regular workforce.
The café offers traditional restaurant services: Coffee, lunch, snacks, cakes, aperitifs… Fresh and homemade products are offered. The working atmosphere is characterized by togetherness, professionalism, conviviality and aesthetics.
A café manager and a cook are hired for the café. They will run the café and have operational authority and responsibility.
Why we are committed to the project
We are attracted by the idea that people with disabilities can be offered a nice place to work while performing an important task in the midst of our society. Spreading these cafés to even more cities is an essential contribution to social coexistence and the right to education and participation for every person.
When Nicolas gets up in the morning, he is happy to go to work. He takes pride in being useful. He has a sense of self-worth, he feels good!
Parents of a “happy” team member
Outlook
For next year 2024, we plan to fund the training costs of 10,000 € for a team member for one year. We have been invited to visit Café Joyeux and look forward to being pampered there.
