Marie and her siblings were abused as children, first by their foster family, then by their father who was alcoholic and violent.

Marie then decided to become a foster family herself with her husband Claude.

They confided in Olivier Delacroix about their commitment.

TESTIMONY

When she was a child, Marie was placed with her siblings with an abusive woman. They then lived with her father who was alcoholic and violent. In order not to reproduce the patterns she had known, Marie decided to become herself a foster family with her husband Claude. In 22 years, they have welcomed more than 50 children into their home and have become particularly attached to some of them. Marie and Claude tell Olivier Delacroix about their life as a host family. 

When she was five years old, Marie, her brother and her sister were placed with an abusive woman, while her mother was ill and her father occupied with his work: "My brother was smaller and he used to wet the bed. . In the morning, she would cut some nettles in her garden and she would whip him with them because he had wet the bed. I spent days locked in the dark in the cellar. Today, I have a phobia black, I don't go out of the house at night. 

I had a terrible fear of this woman. At Christmas, we received gifts from the DDASS. When the social worker arrived with the gifts, we were very happy. The social worker was leaving and her family was arriving. It was snowing and she told us to go play outside while she received her family. The toys we had received, she had given to her grandchildren. We told social assistance. But the problem is that when the social worker talked about it with this lady, we had even more punishments. It was hard. So we didn't say anything anymore. "

Marie and her siblings spent five years with this woman.

They then lived with their mother for a year, but were mistreated by their stepfather.

They then moved in with their father, alcoholic and violent.

Marie says she stayed at home until she came of age: "It was when I was 18 that I took advantage. I did the worst mistakes. I didn't trust anyone and even less men. I had one. such lack of love. It didn't help. My first daughter's dad was abusing me. I left. I fell on someone even more violent. I had my second daughter. It wasn't possible, we had to stop. "

"

Cosette, it's a reality

"

Six years later, Marie met Claude, with whom she had a son. Together, they became a foster family. Claude shares his experience as a family assistant: "Cosette is a reality. There have been some Cosettes and there may still be some. These children are already leaving with a disability in life. "When they come of age, this handicap is the least harmful possible. In addition, they should not feel guilty. When children arrive here, they sometimes feel guilty. They are sometimes placed because of them. 

Our job is to get them to relieve the guilt and try not to make the parents feel guilty either, because the mistakes of life and the problems, we have gone through them and we know what it is.

It's not fun for parents either.

The bond sometimes becomes much stronger.

This is where you have to know where the limit is.

Sometimes we go beyond it.

We get attached.

Marie had the honor of leading Pierre-Marc-Antoine to the altar.

It is a source of pride.

He exercises a profession of the Earth.

We don't talk about them, but we turn them into kids who, at 20, have their wages in their pockets. "

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Mathieu is 18 years old and has lived with Claude and Marie for five years.

He explains how their educational methods changed his habits: "For work, you have to do things well. When I arrived, I was a larva. The less I did, the better I was. I was not. used to all that. I was in the city. My mother did everything. For example, here, if we want to heat ourselves, we all go get wood. These are things that I would never have done at home. has changed. It's better, because afterwards you are more resourceful. I see it by being of age. If I had an apartment, I would be able to manage. "

Thanks to her commitment as a foster family, Marie confides that she found appeasement: "I immediately felt good about what I was doing, because at the same time, I was healing myself. I was healing my interior. . We took in more than 50 children because there are children who came just for the holidays. That's a lot of children. I'm proud. It's still a job. They are not our children. I learned , with training and with the children's referents, to work on the start. It can be worked on, but it's true that it is sometimes hard. We lead them towards autonomy. That's the goal. "

"

I was a member of the family

"

Pierre-Marc-Antoine is the first child that Marie and Claude have welcomed. He was then 14 years old. Now 31 years old, he tells what Marie and Claude brought him: "When I arrived, I remember that Laetitia, their daughter, was lying on a deck chair. It was a great welcome. was surprised, then embarrassed. I was lost. I had no motherly or fatherly love. I was all alone. I was really taken on the same level as their children. I never felt left out. I was a member of the family, I was one of their children.

They brought everything I was missing. I was not affordable. I was aggressive when I went to school. They managed to channel me. They made me discover everything. They educated me from start to finish. Afterwards, I was able to discover love. I am married. I got my licence. I met some friends where they lived. They are more than values. They opened doors for me that I could never have opened without them. "