Provider

Description

À Bras Ouverts: With Open Arms, Without Barriers

À Bras Ouverts — French for “With Open Arms” — is a nonprofit that organizes weekend and short-stay getaways pairing young people living with disabilities and volunteer companions aged 18 to 35. Founded in 1986 and recognized as a public-interest association, it now operates through 31 local groups across France, each fostering lasting relationships in a close-knit, friendly atmosphere.

Each group, with a poetic name like “L’île aux Trésors” or “La Mélodie du Bonheur,” is made up of about 20–40 young participants and 50 volunteer companions. These groups regularly reunite for weekend trips that feel like escapes among friends — staying in donated homes, cooking together, playing in the garden, and sharing stories.

The model is simple and human-centered:

• Families get a much-needed break.
• Volunteers discover the beauty of difference and connection.
• Young participants enjoy moments of joy, dignity, and community in a relaxed setting.
• Homeowners who lend their vacation homes become part of the adventure too, enabling these weekends to happen by offering a welcoming space.

Everyone can get involved by:

• Becoming a volunteer companion (perfect for those who love meaningful travel)
• Donating to support the activities
• Lending your home and joining a local group as a key enabler of shared joy

Where / Served area: France

Website: www.abrasouverts.fr

Why on TravaPowa: À Bras Ouverts doesn’t just create unforgettable weekends — it reshapes the way we live together. By bringing together young people with disabilities and volunteer companions for simple moments of joy, nature, and community, it disrupts isolation, breaks down prejudice, and fosters human connection in its most essential form.

The impact is powerful and multidimensional:

• For families, it offers real respite — a chance to rest, breathe, and regain strength knowing their child is safe and celebrated.
• For young people with disabilities, it creates opportunities to feel included, autonomous, and free — often in ways their everyday environments don’t allow.
• For companions, it’s a rare form of travel — not toward a destination, but toward another person — that opens hearts and reframes assumptions about difference, ability, and what truly matters.

Even the locations speak: humble, borrowed countryside homes that transform into spaces of laughter, discovery, and human dignity.
No institutions. No judgment. Just shared meals, walks, books, games, and friendships that stretch far beyond a single weekend.

À Bras Ouverts is an invitation to travel with purpose, to host with meaning, and to see the world not for what it sells — but for what it can become when we open our arms.
By placing inclusion at the center of its mission, the project directly contributes to reducing inequalities (UN SDG 10) and advancing a more just and compassionate society.

Take Action:  Want to enable impactful youth mobility and boost your CSR/ESG commitment on the topics of inclusion and disability? Get in touch with the TravaPowa team.

Subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media to be notified when a new travel opportunity is activated in your area through the TravaPowa Action Trips!

© Image credit: À Bras Ouverts. All rights reserved