In 2017, Patrick, a resident of the neighborhood located between Montsouris park and Alésia, notices that while his neighbors cross paths every day, greet each other with a nod, and shop at the same stores, they remain strangers to one another. Without hesitation, he decides to gather interested residents every Saturday for neighborhood activities. It didn't take long for the idea to take off, and the Hyper Voisins association now spans 53 streets, 70 hectares, and 15,000 residents (including about 2,000 actively involved in the association). It is also gearing up to take a new step by purchasing a community house.
All kinds of activities
Since its creation, the Republic of Hyper Voisins has been doubling down on...
Creativity to create social connections, promote sharing, and foster friendliness. On the agenda: happy hours, cultural events, and of course, the famous table of Aude, which each year brings together over 1000 people around the same table. An extraordinary dinner where everyone brings something to eat to share with their neighbors.Voir cette publication sur Instagram
Still, this project represents a new milestone for the association, and a significant one at that. Acquiring shared space to provide a vital meeting and service point for the neighbors: knitting classes, a party hall, homework help, cooking classes, and even parcel reception! And the opportunity arose with the sale of an old printing house, located on Rue de l’Aude.
A participatory financing system
But how to finance such a project? To cover the 600,000 euros for the sale, Hyper Voisins is proposing an innovative concert: 600 lots, called "bricks", each valued at 1,000 euros, that residents of the neighborhood can buy to participate in the project. And by early August, 58% of them had already sold out.
e; été acquired by neighbors who are super excited about the project. Others have already promised to buy one as soon as they’re back from vacation.Voir cette publication sur Instagram
To support the progress of the project — which is going well since a sales agreement has been signed —, the local Crédit Mutuel even set up a special loan of 1,000€ to be repaid over 5 years, with monthly payments that are « barely higher than a pack of cigarettes », cheers Patrick Bernard, president of the association. It's a really great project, even though we're a bit anxious about the co-ownership meetings with several hundred people...