info@mecenat-cardiaque.org | +33 (0)1 49 24 02 02 | Read the blog |
with heart defects from underprivileged countries were treated in 2022 thanks to the indispensable help of our host families. In 2023, we hope to operate on even more children!
>To achieve this, we are looking for new host families.
Wanting to help a child as a volunteer
To be driven
Live within a 1-hour drive of one of our 12 partner hospitals in France and Switzerland
Be available full time for 8 weeks
Have received at least 1 dose + 1 booster of the Covid-19 vaccine
Discover in 3 episodes the stages of welcoming a child
From the first contact with the Association to the arrival of the child, what is the process of becoming a foster family?
1. First contact
After an initial telephone contact, you will be welcomed either in Paris at the Association's offices or in the regions by our local referents. This first interview is a time for meeting, exchange and information.
2. Meeting with a member of the medical team
After a few weeks of reflection, you are received by a member of the medical team to discuss the issues surrounding the reception of a sick child.
3. You join the big family of Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque
If you confirm your wish to host a child, we decide together when to host the child. Until the day of arrival, we will stay in touch to explain and prepare the child's arrival and answer all your questions.
Everyone is welcome! It doesn't matter if you're single, married, a parent, you just need to have a car, be available full time for the child, and live within an hour's drive of one of our 11 partner hospitals.
Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque finances heart surgery for children at 11 surgical centers in France and 1 in Switzerland: Angers, Bordeaux, Geneva (Switzerland), Lille (France), Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Paris, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Tours and Saint-Denis de la Réunion. We need new host families living within 1 hour's drive of these cities.
From meeting the child at the airport, to accompanying him/her throughout his/her health journey, to his/her departure, a welcome lasts on average between 6 and 8 weeks.
We operate all year round. The reception is done according to your availability.
Children who have a heart defect and who cannot afford to be operated on in their country. Their only recourse is to come to France but without you it is impossible.
You are never alone! Our team is available 24/7 to guide and support you in all circumstances.
"We thought we were giving, we received
Discover the strong testimonies of families
Ousseina, 5 years old, underwent heart surgery at Marie-Lannelongue Hospital and his host family - Report "One Heart"
Olivier, through the eyes of his host family.
Report of the Personaz family who welcomed the adorable Abdou, a 3 and a half year old native of Guinea Conakry.
Véronique and Jean-Paul tell you about their experience with Manuela, a young Cameroonian woman who was operated on in Marseille.
We use the term "foster" family, but any family that has taken in a child could describe to you the very strong bond they have forged, a bond of the heart. Exaucée's family is a good example.
On Tuesday 16 November, our Touraine branch's Family Day took place in a joyful and warm atmosphere, on the initiative of Sourrazeh Jollet.
Fostering a child is a big adjustment for our volunteer foster families. They all agree that children bring a lot to them, more than they bring to the children. This is the case of Nadège and her children Camille (19 years old), Alice (16 years old) and Maria (9 years old), who received little Moïse in their home for 2 months. At the age of 5, this little Burkinabé was for them a beautiful example of courage and wisdom.
We will be happy to answer your questions and explain in more detail the central role of foster families in saving the life of an underprivileged heart child.
