Wake up Café - France

Acting inside prison to succeed in socio-professional reintegration upon release

Wake up Café’s experience shows that early release preparation leads to more effective, lasting reintegration. The association provides comprehensive, personalized support structured in two phases. Inside prison, inmates participate in intensive remobilization programs (Re<insert>, Vers l’Entreprise, Work in Detention) led by coaches, trainers, and corporate volunteers. Upon release, participants ("wakeurs") are welcomed to the association's sites five days a week. There, they receive 360-degree tailored support, including job placement, administrative assistance, psychological guidance, housing support, and addiction care. By expanding these programs into new regions (Nantes, Lille, Lyon), Wake up Café aims to extend this supportive and structured framework to even more beneficiaries.

Air Liquide Corporate employee engagement at the heart of job remobilization

The involvement of Air Liquide employees is a key driver in the support path provided at our community sites. By connecting with participants at our centers, Group staff offer a valuable and tangible link to the professional world. Through facilitating group workshops, mock job interviews, and individual mentoring, they help participants refine their career projects and master workplace norms. This supportive, human engagement builds participant confidence and creates direct bridges toward lasting professional reintegration.

What the Air Liquide Foundation does 

The grant provided by the Air Liquide Foundation directly enables Wake up Café to scale and deploy its "inside-outside" remobilization programs.

Specifically, this funding serves to:

• Fund key human resources: Cover a portion of the salaries for dedicated frontline teams (project managers, social integration and job placement specialists) who coordinate programs, prepare release plans in prison, and deliver one-on-one tailored guidance at our sites until participants secure long-term employment.
• Facilitate workshops: Finance group workshops held both inside prisons and at our community sites, led notably by our specialized training team "Pour des Hommes et des Femmes DEBOUT".
• Provide educational tools and materials: Acquire essential equipment required for participants to attend training sessions, craft their resumes, and conduct job or training searches.

Air Liquide employee involvement

A dedicated partner since 2020, Air Liquide ranks among Wake up Café’s top 10 most engaged corporate partners. Thanks to team mobilization, 7% of supported participants have already interacted with Group employees during group or one-on-one sessions (industry discovery, mock interviews, HR guidance). In 2025, additional Air Liquide volunteers stepped in to contribute to our in-prison programs across Île-de-France and PACA.

Under this renewed partnership agreement, this engagement will be further strengthened and expanded. Employee involvement will focus on:

• Skills-based sponsorship and professional workshops: Regular facilitation at our community sites of recruitment prep sessions, coaching, and mock job interviews to share workplace norms and demystify the corporate world.
• Individual support: Tailored guidance to help participants build and achieve their career goals.
• Company visits and discovery of Air Liquide careers: Hosting participants at Air Liquide locations to introduce Group careers and open up opportunities for work placements or immersions.