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“Reading the newspaper can have unpredictable and happy consequences! ". At the start of his inauguration speech, almost two years after the opening to the first residents due to the convid crisis, the former French President recalled that it was by reading an article in Le Monde about an innovative initiative by care of Alzheimer's patients in the Netherlands, that Henri Emmanuelli decided to transpose the model to the Landes.

The problem with Henri Emmanuelli is that when he had an idea, it was very difficult to get it out of his head. He came to me to explain that he wanted to create an establishment, a village, which can mark a break with what was done or was not done until now in France and beyond. In 2015, I elected this project as a national worth one. François Hollande, former French President

Giving his name today, in this department "considered as one of the most exemplary in France in terms of monitoring, welcoming and supporting the elderly with its public nursing homes", "it is both a symbol and a lesson for generations to come, on what politics and commitment to the service of others are all about. Henri Emmanuelli knew that we had to try to change the destiny of our country and the lives of fellow citizens through collective action, politics,” continued Mr. Hollande, as Justine and Victoire, the granddaughters of the former minister, president of the National Assembly and first secretary of the PS, unveiled the plaque.

Priority to supporting the most vulnerable

His son, Antoine Emmanuelli, who gave a very committed speech ("France, which was so often a pole of resistance to liberalism, unfortunately seems to aspire to become its worst student. Busy celebrating its first climbers, it lost count of those, so many, who are no longer roped at all") said, at the end of the ceremony, "very moved" by the name of the "Village Landais Henri Emmanuelli": "this Village is a topic that he talked about hundreds of times. He was not one not stop thinking about his original ideas when at home(...) Often, there are quite substantial gaps between the initial projects and what we do with them. I dare say that he would have loved this Village and would have been very proud of its achievement". For Francis Lacoste, who was responsible for Solidarity in the Department during all the Emmanuelli years, this place is "symbolic of his desire to deal with people's problems, to always seek new solutions, without setting limits". He was “a precursor and a visionary who worked in the service of the humble, progress and social justice, this village is the living witness. Ahead of his time, Henri understood very early on that support policies for vulnerable people had to be a priority and that innovation had to be at the service of solidarity", also welcomed Xavier Fortinon, his successor at the head of the Department. In 2050, 30,000 inhabitants of the Landes will be dependent (17,000 in 2015).

Remote assistance, XL Autonomy, Aging Well plan

And to cite, among other things, the first public remote assistance service created in the Landes in 1986, the XL Autonomy service package with the Post Office or even "the historic choice to favor the public model" for Landes nursing homes when today brought to light the Orpea scandal in private retirement homes. "The model that we have the pleasure of inaugurating here is the one that consists in saying that health is not a commodity and Henri, through all his speeches and his actions, has always carried this", by emphasizing very high the idea of ​​"progress through science", insisted Renaud Lagrave, vice-president of the Regional Council.

In the light of this heritage, the Landes continue today to innovate in the field of solidarity, through the Aging well plan to further improve the care of the elderly and revalorize the professions of personal services, or the new project for young people with autism and their families soon to be built in Mont-de-Marsan. As if to continue the work undertaken since the 1980s and "to rise to the height of the action that Henri Emmanuelli initiated and led in the department", swore Mr. Fortinon: "the heritage he bequeaths to us is not a testament but an incentive to defend more ardently than ever progress and social protection”.