A social and community-based initiative that promotes an alternative model of society, where work and community life provide opportunities for personal growth and renewal.

The Emmaus Movement places social mission and solidarity well ahead of economic or individualistic considerations and promotes an alternative model of society, where work and community life enable people to rebuild their lives while helping others.

This Movement, which today brings together more than 38,000 people (volunteers, Companions, employees, and those in job-integration programs) throughout France, is also present in 37 countries around the world. Constantly evolving, it is both a hub of social innovation and a committed movement advocating for a more just and eco-friendly society, particularly through its long-standing work of collecting, reusing, and reselling goods.

296 Emmaus groups in France

OUR ACTIONS

• Reuse and eco-friendly alternatives; The solidarity-based reuse initiative has been at the heart of the Emmaus project since the creation of the first Community in 1949. Collecting what society no longer wants, sorting it, cleaning it, repairing it if necessary, and finally reselling it.
• Emmaus Communities: are at the origin of the Movement and constitute one of its pillars. Since the first community was founded by Abbé Pierre in Neuilly-Plaisance in 1949 around the work of ragpickers, Emmaus Communities have welcomed thousands of people in situations of precariousness and exclusion, based on a model of solidarity that was groundbreaking then and remains unique today, more than 70 years later.
• Social Services and Housing: Among the major players, Emmaüs Solidarité coordinates both day centers and general and specialized housing: emergency and stabilization shelters, halfway houses, boarding houses, centers for housing and social reintegration (CHRS), and reception centers for asylum seekers
• Integration through employment