Created in 2019, the non-profit association Épicerie du Cœur ASBL promotes solidarity with the most underprivileged residents of the 19 municipalities in the Mons area. Its primary mission? Food aid, which has been operating as a fully-fledged grocery shop since 2021.
The beneficiaries are accompanied to the grocery shop and leave with a parcel that includes 3 balanced meals per person. 300 families use the grocery shop and nearly 2,000 meals are distributed every week.
It also offers anyone who applies for food aid the option of follow-up by its in-house social services department, if they so wish. In this way, the non-profit association responds to all social emergencies, directing people to specific services and helping them to achieve social, economic and cultural emancipation.
Géraldine Godart is a social worker at the Épicerie du Cœur. She is proud to share with us the philosophy that drives all the members of the team:
“Our ambition is to provide support and guidance to people on the path to well-being, enabling them to regain their human dignity by considering them as a whole, while meeting their basic needs.”
This approach speaks volumes about the desire to provide structural help to the people who turn to the Épicerie du Cœur.
Since becoming a member of the Federation of Resto du Coeur, the Épicerie has benefited from the ever so constructive discussions that always take place between Resto du Coeur, and has been able to offload some of the common difficulties involved in running a non-profit association. This is a real advantage for the team, who can now turn their attention back to the essentials: helping people in precarious situations who turn to the association when they have no other alternative...
