Built on a hillside, the village of La Roche-Canillac in Corrèze has 127 inhabitants. Added to this is, on average, around twenty very special residents. Since February, the Concienta association has been housing former prisoners in an imposing stone building, the door of which is always wide open.
Unlike most reintegration centres, the welcome is unconditional. Some have received harsh sentences, many struggle with addiction problems, others suffer from psychiatric disorders. There is Kader, 71, who likes to smoke his buns sitting in a garden chair; Jordan, 18, who says little but smiles all the time; Valentin, 36, and Mira, his white and beige American Staff dog; or Manu, 61, the champion of auctions: “Between us, we have been in prison for about two centuries”he said in his hoarse voice by way of introduction.
Behind the bravado, minds are disturbed. The new freedom is often accompanied by a feeling of emptiness. Bodies wander between the tables in the common room, lean on the counter with a coffee (alcohol is prohibited), take a few steps outside the building. Their inner compass no longer points north. Marie-Ange Nowak, the association’s general delegate, considers the house to be “a rehabilitation lock”, “a bubble”EITHER “guy” They can, at their own pace, rebuild themselves.
Miloud, 48, remains frail for the moment. His existence has been made up of trips to and from pre-trial detention centres since he was 24: “I served one year, four years, two years, one year… For violence. Drug trafficking too.” At each exit, the Limougeaud ends up on the street, where it inevitably ends up. “go mad”In October 2023, after another release, he knocked on Concienta’s door. “This time it is fulfilled.” So that ? “I don’t know, ma’am.” But is it better? “It is in the head that things get better.” Thanks to what? “I feel good. ” For the first time in a long time, Miloud feels able to fight his addictions. “I have help. I’ll get there soon, eh. I’m just passing through.”he says, his hands buried in the pockets of his “hoodie.”
“All for feeling”
Former prisoners usually stay there for about fifteen months. Traumatized by their prison experience, most of the new arrivals spend the first few weeks in their rooms, alone and silent. Little by little they emerge from their mental confinement and manage to find a place within the small community. Because no one rushes them and because Gilles Martin, the founder of Concienta, knows how to establish a relationship of trust with them. “He is a friend, a star above my head”Miloud whispers.
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