Inventing the Future

Mission & Vision

The Covid-19 crisis has severely worsened the living conditions of millions of vulnerable people, pushing them into extremely critical situations: precariousness, isolation, psychological suffering, dropping out of school, etc. This crisis has highlighted the latent fragility of whole sections of society. Yet, other crises will come. Beyond emergency responses, it is now necessary to promote the development of new ways of life, production, housing, education, care, social organization, etc. The Fondation de France ‘Inventing The Future’ program was created at the beginning of the coronavirus health crisis to mobilize local French nonprofits that experiment, develop and share ambitious, long-lasting and innovative solutions to accelerate the transformation of our society.

This program aims to deeply improve the lives of the most vulnerable by supporting charitable and/or educational projects that make a difference and bring lasting answers, especially as their transversal approach tackle transversal issues, in various fields such as the environment, education, mental health or socio-professional integration, just to name a few.

Actions Led

Listed are some of the programs that Inventing the Future supports:

• Bureaux du Coeur develops the use of professional premises for individual emergency care, in the evenings and on weekends when they are empty.
• Point d’Eau is a day center for people in difficult situations. They are both a place to live and a center where multiple services are offered as key steps towards dignity and self-reconstruction. Most of the implemented activities and services are led with and by homeless people themselves. 
• Graines de France and GHETT’UP are inspired by American models around community organizing. They gather volunteers and professionals to create safe spaces to facilitate discussions and improve the image of neighborhoods by reducing biases among the general public and residents.
• Hameaux Légers revitalizes rural territories by connecting people to places with financially accessible eco-hamlets, which host a small number of reversible habitats, respectful of their environment.

Projects that U.S. Donors Can Support

Today there are 23 nonprofit organizations supported structurally, benefiting from individual follow-ups and from a collective approach. The focus is now on consolidating the created program and deepening collaborations. Future goals include reinforcing and systematizing this way of supporting initiatives.

Learn more through our blog article published on January 23rd, 2023.

(c) Theo Giacometti