Henri Hannequin, Head of Operations and Development at ACISE Samusocial in Martinique (the Citizens’ Association for Social and Economic Integration), who has been with the organization for over four years, talks to us about the organization’s early days through to its current initiatives, including the Case-Pilote thrift store and the “boutiks.” Interview.
Tell us about the history of the organization.
ACISE has been in existence since 2002. The association was created to take over from another organization, APEX (Association for the Care of the Excluded). ACISE’s core mission is to provide care for the homeless and those without a fixed address. These individuals often suffer from mental illness or behavioral disorders and/or substance abuse. In short, they are people living on the streets, in extremely precarious circumstances, and in a state of social emergency. ACISE began in Fort-de-France with the opening of a shelter and a day center. These programs have expanded over the years because the need remains very great today.
Has this need changed over the years?
Yes. We’ve noticed that there are more young people and more older adults among those receiving ACISE services. The most experienced ACISE staff members say that crack is causing slightly less damage than it did in the early 2000s and in the 1990s. And the nature of the need has also changed just a little bit, partly thanks to our efforts. I think older Martinicans can see a shift in the profile of the homeless: Although there are obviously still some, there are far fewer people in rags on the streets.
As of today, what services are available to users?
As for the medical-social component, there are 89 accommodation and housing spots available through various programs.
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25 emergency beds: a shower, dinner, and a bed in a dormitory.
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34 stabilization beds: a group housing facility where residents commit to participating in a personalized support program.
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20 transitional housing facilities: Transitional housing is generally the step before independent living.
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10 Temporary Healthcare Beds: This is a home care service for patients who are homeless. In addition to medical care, the program also provides assistance with housing and social services.
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There is also a day center where people can drop in at any time to have breakfast, wash up, get dressed, and access general medical and psychiatric care. At the day center, we also offer assistance with accessing social benefits.
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Finally, there is Samusocial, which is made up of social workers and outreach workers who go out onto the streets of Martinique to meet with the homeless. The teams hand out snacks to establish contact and, above all, to reach out. In our social work, we respect people’s choices and their freedom; everyone is free to live on the streets if they choose to. We offer a way out.
Do you help users until they find employment?
As early as the mid-2000s, ACISE had two needs to address. One was to provide clothing for the homeless, and the other was to go beyond medical and social care to offer opportunities for further social integration. Since 2007, therefore, integration workshops have been established with the goal of ensuring a seamless transition from medical and social care to social and professional integration. At first, the integration workshops consisted of a sewing workshop because there were clothes that needed to be mended. Then there was a farm that operated for nearly 10 years. Today, the farm serves as a vehicle for social integration, with a therapeutic focus, to get homeless people off the streets and give them a change of scenery for a few hours.
And that's how the little shops and the thrift store came about?
Through word of mouth, ACISE ended up with more clothing than it needed. In addition, our goal was to create ever more activities to serve as a foundation for employment integration. The paradigm shift for ACISE took place in 2013 with the Resource Center Network Meeting. We then shifted from a 100% solidarity-based approach to one focused on “recovery’ and reuse. With the circular economy, these are concepts that ACISE has embraced as it seeks to develop more activities to generate more jobs.
What are the functions of the recycling center?
A reuse center has four functions: First, it collects items that can potentially be reused, either through voluntary drop-offs or through home pickups by appointment. Next, these items must be repurposed. In theory, there are three levels of repurposing, but in our case there are only two: cleaning and repair—for example, sanding a piece of furniture and repainting it. We don’t do this yet, but the third level of upcycling is repurposing items—that is, giving them a new identity. Then, after this process, we need to find customers for the refurbished items. Finally, the last function is to raise public awareness about better waste management and the benefits of extending the lifespan of objects.
Is there a lot of equipment to manage?
According to a study conducted by the Réseau des Ressourcerie and ACISE on behalf of CAP NORD, when the results are extrapolated to the entire territory, there are 4,000 metric tons per year of reusable items and 1,200 metric tons per year of textiles, household linens, and shoes to be collected and processed in Martinique. Today, ACISE’s Martinique TLC social integration workshop collects 1,000 metric tons of clothing per year—representing 80% of the total volume—which is a success. ACISE’s recycling center in Case Pilote processes over 110 metric tons per year of furniture, appliances, toys, books, and more. The rest of the waste stream currently ends up in household trash, at waste collection centers, or is dumped in illegal dumpsites. The Case-Pilote recycling center was designed to meet the needs of the Northern Caribbean region, serving roughly 30,000 residents. It is designed to process a maximum of 200 to 250 metric tons per year. The fact is that ACISE is currently the only recycling center in Martinique to offer a free curbside pickup service for bulky items, so we are in high demand throughout the entire region.
What infrastructure is needed to manage such a deposit?
At present, there is only one recycling center in Martinique that brings together collection, recycling, reuse, and public awareness efforts under one roof. It is the ACISE center in Case-Pilote. We believe that, to make the best use of the pool of items with reuse potential, at least three more facilities like this one are needed: in the North Atlantic region, in the center, and in the south. The urban communities and the SMTVD must take action to ensure that such facilities are established.
For its part, ACISE has six other “boutiks” in the central and southern regions. These “boutiks” serve as drop-off points, retail outlets, and awareness-raising centers, but they cannot process the entire volume of waste. For clothing collection, there are drop-off bins, and ACISE, together with ADEME and CTM, is working on a project to establish an industrial sorting center for textiles, linens, and shoes.
Does it take a large team to get everything done?
For collection and reuse activities in 2018, ACISE benefits from the presence of 52 full-time equivalents in work integration programs, funded by the DIECCTE, supervised by about 15 permanent staff members who are professionals in the fields of the environment, sorting, collection, recycling, and logistics. The medical-social division and support services employ approximately 40 people. There are more than 100 of us at ACISE, not counting the many volunteers who provide us with much-needed assistance in certain areas of our operations. Volunteers interested in joining us can sign up on our website.
Who are the «suppliers» and consumers of secondhand goods?
People in Martinique are generous; they turn to our services in large numbers to get rid of their furniture that’s still in good condition. Having high volume is essential to the sustainability of our business. We also see a lot of foot traffic in the boutiques, mostly from people with limited means, but we’re starting to see a slightly more affluent or environmentally conscious clientele emerge—people who feel that consuming differently fits into their lifestyle or who want to own a one-of-a-kind item.
What I can say in terms of economic analysis of the secondhand market is that there are a lot of misconceptions about the idea that people in Martinique only want new items. In 2013, we sold 10 metric tons of used clothing; in 2016, we sold 50 metric tons. The secondhand market is a supply-driven market, not a demand-driven one—just look at the rise of a site like “Le Bon Coin.” People don’t automatically seek out secondhand products, but when the product is available, when it’s good quality, when it’s well-presented, and when customers are welcomed in stores just like in any other store, people buy secondhand. We’re very confident that this market will see real growth in the coming years.
Mariska Desmarquis
Website: http://acisesamusocial.org/
Contact: communication@acisesamusocial.org
Phone: 0596 72 86 06
