Hélène Ysebaert (Damart France)

  • tell us about the project:

The project for which I requested the OSS foundation came from the "generations and culture" association for the "a roof to share" scheme. The aim was to finance a series of activities to enable senior herders and guests to meet each other. The objective: to create social cohesion, cultivate a sense of belonging and share experiences.

  • tell us about your experience as a godmother:

Discovering the associative world with "generations and culture" has been rich in learning and emotions. Beyond the human side, naturally induced by their missions, they are very "square" and very constructive people. On several occasions, we spoke with Anne-Sophie Lapalus, the director of the association. She spent a lot of time explaining to me how they work, what their network is, what their problems are, etc., etc., and what their projects are... They have a lot! There is so much to do to build good intergenerational practices, that there is no lack of ideas!
In spite of all the good sense of their actions, I understood the difficulties to get the necessary funding to set up their different projects. As it is a non-profit association (and declared of general interest, please!), it only works thanks to subsidies from public or private actors (such as the OSS foundation).
I was also invited to the steering committee in December and was able to benefit from a global, quantified and argued presentation of their activity during 2018.
I had the honor of presenting them with a check for 3,000.00€ in April during a small ceremony at Damart, where we hosted a week-long photo exhibition of their "host-hosted" duos. Following this, the association made 2 thank you posts on their FB page.

  • what did you like about it?

Contribute to an altruistic action.
Discover another universe than the one of my company.
Experience pragmatism with a heart.

  • your experience in 3 words:

Personal investment and satisfaction

  • testimony of the association:

They are very grateful to the foundation for their funding and also thanked me warmly for my personal investment.