In Toulon, Le Rocher supports the city’s families

Going to live for three years on the 17th floor of a priority neighborhood tower, when you could opt for a pavilion or a more peaceful suburb: this is the crazy choice that Caroline and Luc Davoust made, in September 2024, by moving with their four young children into the largest public housing project in Toulon (Var), La Beaucaire. This family mission close to the residents is the “trademark” of the Rocher: “We are there every day, for the good times and the bad,” summarize the two thirty-somethings.

Born in 2001 in Bondy, this association inspired by Christian social thought offers couples the opportunity to commit to popular education, social bonds and integration, in one of the nine priority neighborhoods where it is located. In Toulon, the challenges are multiple: the poverty of many residents is compounded by social isolation and linguistic difficulties. In their premises, the six people who support the couple – three young people in civic service and three volunteers – organize various activities to support the residents, or simply come to create connections.

In two decades, Le Rocher has been adopted by the neighborhood. We come there by word of mouth, we find friends and support. And for the volunteers, we come away grown. François, a student engaged in civic service during his gap year, testifies: “Of course, everything is not rosy. But the joy experienced is far from the violent and dark image that I had of the cities. »