Brosse à dents, chiffon, cure-dents: the cleaning gear is perfectly aligned on Laurence’s table. Eye carefully behind her glasses, the 56-year-old professional polishes the slightly worn cover of “Timothée va à l’école,” a children’s book recounting the adventures of a raccoon. “We only use white vinegar, a natural product. It’s important for us, but also for the children who will be holding it!” emphasizes this former civil servant who returned to work three months ago after two years of unemployment.
Located in a discreet shed in Villeurbanne, near Lyon (Rhône), Enjoué’s mission is to give a second life to the mountains of toys it collects daily. Stuffed animals, books, puzzles are sorted, cleaned, repaired by “valorous agents,” then packaged before being resold at low prices. A reconditioning activity like any other, except that the employees all have one thing in common: residents of Saint-Jean, a priority neighborhood marked by precariousness, they have experienced a long period of unemployment, hindered by health problems, poor housing, or language barriers.
A strong need for integration
The idea was born in 2017 from a conversation among three friends, professionals in social development and employment in the Lyon region. On one hand, a realization from their careers: the area is marked by a strong need for integration. On the other hand, a different observation from their daily lives as parents: due to overconsumption, too many children’s toys are discarded even though they could be reused. “Since no one was reconditioning toys here, we thought it was the ideal niche,” recounts Gilles Malandrin, co-founder and current director of the organization. A small step, according to him, to contribute both to solidarity efforts and environmental protection.
Supported by the Rejoué association in implementing its refurbishment protocol, the team also aligns with the Zero Long-Term Unemployment Territories (TZCLD) program, conceived by ATD Fourth World and deployed in France since 2016. The Saint-Jean neighborhood, with a unemployment rate of over 26% and 400 people chronically unemployed among about 4,300 residents, became one of the pilot territories in late 2016. To date, 227 people have exited chronic unemployment since the project’s inception, with around a hundred thanks to the “EBE” job enterprise Emerjean which offers sewing, farming, bike repairs, etc. But there’s still much to be done.
In 2022, Enjoué, in turn, becomes an EBE. Its role: to launch a useful and non-competitive activity by recruiting without regard to CV, for positions that are 95% financed by the government and the department. “We start from the principle that no one is unemployable,” summarizes Gilles Malandrin. An opportunity for Chafira. “After the bankruptcy of the company where I worked my entire career, I had to take care of my very ill father for a year and a half, and I feared that no one would want me after that,” recounts this 55-year-old mother. Trained on-site, employees regularly change positions based on their preferences or schedule, from collecting toys to putting them back on the market, online, in stores, or at local nurseries. A framework that helps employees, not always accustomed to corporate norms, specialize, evolve, or even plan for their future, as recalled at Enjoué.
No rush towards profitability
At the origin of the “TZCLD” experiment, an intuition: long-term unemployment costs society more than creating subsidized jobs. Enjoué does not prioritize profitability but aims to remain balanced. Despite this, it has continued to grow, as its director points out: from 12 valorous agents in 2021, it has grown to 44 in 2026, and 15,000 toys have been processed this year, compared to 4,000 at the start.
A “real enterprise,” as emphasized by Mounia, 48 years old, but not only that. Originally from Morocco, where she obtained a bachelor’s degree never truly valued in France, she arrived two years ago and is now preparing to train to enter the human resources field: “It’s here that I regained confidence in myself.”
The recipes for success
- Alliance of actors
To identify candidates within a sometimes very isolated population, Enjoué relies on the Le Booster association, in collaboration with partners like France Travail or the local Mission locale. - Sustainability of funding
Suspended for several months, the bill aimed at institutionalizing the Zero Long-Term Unemployment Territories was adopted in first reading by MPs in early 2026. - Customized positions
Unlike a traditional company, an EBE does not seek a candidate for a specific position but offers part-time permanent contracts for a role to be defined. This flexibility is particularly useful for parents or chronically ill individuals.
