As part of National Volunteer Week, which will take place from April 19 to 25, Dans la rue would like to highlight the indispensable dedication and commitment of its 98 volunteers. Throughout the week, we will feature one profile each day to highlight the vital role these individuals play in the organization’s mission.
A lifelong music fan, Patrick decided to get involved with Dans la rue after attending a punk concert organized to benefit the organization.
At that point in his life, he was looking for a cause to support: this benefit concert was exactly what he was looking for. Two weeks later, he boarded the Van.
Who is Patrick?
Raised in a modest family, Patrick was the first son of a young couple who separated early in his life. At that time, children of divorced parents were often stigmatized at school. Suffering from dyslexia, a condition that was still little understood at the time, Patrick had to work harder than others and even faced, at times, a lack of understanding or mockery from the teaching staff.
Despite the challenges he faced during his childhood, Patrick grew up with a stepfather who became an important father figure and developed strong values at a very early age. Energetic and independent, he decided to start working at the age of 14.
“My mother didn’t give me any money, so I went to work.
That’s normal to me.”
Today, with three vocational diplomas under his belt, Patrick is the healthcare manager at a retirement home.
Significant challenges
Throughout his life, Patrick has shown a constant desire to help others, but also a struggle to extend that same kindness to himself. For many years, he lived with an addiction that he would not be able to name until much later: compulsive eating. Food plays a central role in his daily life: it serves as a refuge, a source of comfort, and a way to cope with his emotions.
As he approaches his forties, the situation becomes critical. Patrick finds himself facing a choice that will determine his health and survival. In the years that follow—which prove to be both challenging and transformative—he embarks on a journey to change his lifestyle, confront his inner demons, and, above all, cultivate self-compassion.
“You have to be willing to change in order to do it. You have to make the decision for yourself, not for others.”
Patrick has experienced addiction firsthand and continues to battle it seven years after coming to terms with it.
This experience has given him a deep understanding of the struggles many young people face—and he doesn’t hesitate to share his story with them.
“Some people haven’t been so lucky. I want to help them. They’re starting to get to know me—and my story, too.”
From Volunteer to Team Leader
Before the benefit concert held in tribute to Bérurier Noir at Les Foufounes Électriques, Patrick was already familiar with Dans la rue. But it was that evening that he took the plunge and committed himself to the cause.
“I’ve always wanted to volunteer, but my physical limitations prevented me from doing so.”
At this turning point in his life, volunteering finally became a possibility. Patrick wanted to help young people who hadn’t been as fortunate as he was to have the same safety net. He admits he was nervous on his first night at the Van, worried he wouldn’t be up to the task. Yet by the second week, a feeling set in: he was in the right place.
Over the months, Patrick found a second family, both among the young people and the other volunteers.
“We’re a team. We’re all different, and we’re getting to know each other, but we’re all here for the same reason.”
Three years after his first outing aboard the Van, Patrick is still helping young people with just as much pride. He says he does it solely for their well-being, but you can tell how much this involvement gives meaning to his life.
Today, he is a driver for the Van, a co-team leader, and deeply invested in the relationships he builds with the youth. Once skeptical of his academic abilities, he is now pursuing a university degree with the goal of working as a social worker, and is surprised by his own good grades.
“It’s given me a different perspective on life. I want to become a street worker, to be as close to them as possible.”
A presence that makes all the difference
Talking with Patrick, you discover a charming, resilient, calm man driven by a remarkable inner strength. Patrick is the kind of person who refuses a free sweater from Dans la rue, preferring to buy one so the money goes back to the youth. He’s also the one who decides that, even when the Van breaks down, the minivan will still head out to meet the youth. He is the one who, finally, brings little cakes baked by his mother or hats knitted by the residents of the assisted living facility where he works.
Patrick embodies that quiet kindness that changes lives—a constant, humble, and deeply human presence.
Thank you, Patrick.
